


Of Awkward Summer Vacations and Beached Dolphins

by IllusionsOfInsanity



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Eventual Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Good Luke Castellan, Humor, Mermaid Percy Jackson, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, oh how do i tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24675886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionsOfInsanity/pseuds/IllusionsOfInsanity
Summary: In which Annabeth meets an aquatic animal activist, loses common sense in a storm, nearly drowns and learns that having seafood allergies does not affect kissing a merboy...along with all the misadventures that follow. (Modern/Fantasy!AU) (Transferred from my FF account; first chapter originally published on October 19th, 2015)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Grover Underwood, Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Thalia Grace, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan & Annabeth Chase & Thalia Grace, Luke Castellan & Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood, Thalia Grace & Percy Jackson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 47





	1. Annabeth Becomes a Marine Animal Rescuer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now here's a doosey. This fanfic was originally a three parter that I expanded into a series, but eventually got writer's block for that made the next chapter get stuck in wip limbo for...far too long. If this gets enough traction/interest, I'll try to get the chapter I've got lying around dusted off and finished as a back burner project. I've always hated that I never got to the part I was really looking forward to... anyway, I hope you enjoy regardless!

This was not quite what Annabeth was expecting to happen to her over her summer vacation. For starters, the ocean wasn't exactly Annabeth's thing. Being at the beach, taking in the sun, it just wasn't her cup of tea. She was more of the type to kick back in a really nice library and read for hours or even start sketching some building plans of some sort—she had to practice for when she was an actual architect. She was not Luke, with his sporty nature and his strong drive to do _anything_ so long as he could win at it. She was not Thalia, who was brave enough to do most anything that Luke got in his thick skull to do and end up nearly smoking the boy in the process. Most of all she was not Grover, who insisted that he was an animal's best friend ala Snow White when he got kicked so hard in the legs by a goat that he's been saddled with crutches since the start of the summer—all because of one of his lame goat puns, too. She was thoughtful, calm and rational, not sporty, spunky or a victim of bouts of idiocy.

Therefore, the young blond had no idea how she had ended up on the beach that summer afternoon.

She had only come here because of Luke, of course. The whole group basically revolved around what sudden flicker of an idea passed through the boy's mind. Today, it was decimating everyone within a mile radius with a game a volleyball. From the sounds traveling towards her from a good fifteen feet away, the guy was taking the game _way_ too seriously again and actually knocking people over with his spikes on accident. He was the type to get way too invested in playing a game and so somewhere along the line he seemed to forget that using every bit of your strength to slam the ball into the soft sand was not the best idea, especially if you planned on winning. Therefore his shots were very erratic and had a very unpredictable aim, leaving the other team to fear that the ball would hit them. They usually didn't have much to worry about, as the ball had a tendency to soar out of the court and crash-land in the non-sport related sections of the beach.

Thalia was playing as well, of course, swept up in Luke's contagious overzealous nature and setting up every slam and slap of the ball with a quick step or two. Her bright blue eyes were quick to find an opening and take advantage, sometimes even giving her a chance to steal a spike or two from her partner. She actually aimed for points, which is basically the only reason their team was even winning at that point, outruling the fact that they were the only ones in possession of the ball the whole game, an obvious break of the rules.

Grover was sitting on a bench on the nearby boardwalk, eating a soybean burger while eyeing the game of deadly volleyball with an interested yet cautious eye. His crutches were leaning up against his right leg, giving him the ability to focus on gulping down his food without losing his only means of transportation. He knew better than anyone that when Luke was playing any sort of sport, it was the best to stay as far as humanly possible away from the field of play. Innocent bystanders could find themselves hit upside the head with a football and walking up in a nurse's office a half hour later—if they were lucky.

Annabeth was stubbornly refusing to go near the carnage her friend was orchestrating and instead wandered off to one of the sheltered tide pools on the western side of the beach. No one ever really went in that area, as it was actually far more rocks than sand. Beach-goers typically come for the surf, sun and _sand_ , not rocks, after all. With rounded rocks rejected from the ocean, soothing walls of stone carved from the tide and a very small pathway for that occasional visitor to traverse upon, the tidal pools were the ideal location for anyone to sneak away and finish that novel they've been meaning to finish but haven't had the peace and quiet to do so. The teenager was hoping for the little alcove to provide her with such a luxury now, as she even brought a towel to sit on and a totebag of books to read. Spreading out her olive green towel on the sand, the girl made a hasty seat and sat back, taking a deep breath of the air around her. It was salty instead of the usual sharp acidic aftertaste usually found in the city limits. Just went to show how beneficial a good hiding spot could be. With another intake of a soft sea breeze, the young blond turned her grey eyes to the pages of her open book and read to her heart's content.

Well, that was her plan, anyway.

Instead of finishing her book, as she had been planning on doing, she ended up getting three pages into it before being interrupted by a strange gurgling noise. At first, Annabeth just shrugged it off and counted it as some hooligan messing around in the water again. However after around five more times being interrupted, each one adding just a _bit_ more annoyance to her serene mood, she gave up and decided to put her reading on hold. Sticking a bookmark in her page to ensure her spot was kept, she tucked the book back in her bag and stood up. Her hands rested on her jeans for a few moments as she scanned her little enclosure. There wasn't a soul around, as she had expected. The only sound in the air was the gentle sweep of the water curling around the rocky shore and nearly slipping inside of the numerous pools, as if the retreating water was mocking the small spaces by flaunting the water it couldn't have. Just as Annabeth was about to turn around and get back to her reading, her eyes caught a sudden shimmer of the light.

Grey eyes focused on the slight refraction of light, finding a smooth surface of grey and paler shades gleaming in the sun. At first, the blond took it as another stone that had been drenched by the earlier high tide. Then the grey form moved slowly up and down, almost like it was breathing. She realized with a jolt that it _was_ in fact breathing and the thing she was staring at was not a a stone but in fact an animal of some sort. Her heart picked up the pace as she scrambled over to the far corner of her reading nook, stumbling over stones on the way with her wet sneakers in her hurry to get there. Annabeth was rewarded with the pitiful sight of a dolphin lying in the sand and rocks, breathing slowly and looking completely miserable. It didn't take a marine biologist to know that the unfortunate creature had swam a little too close when the tide was full and managed to get himself stuck on the shore. The girl quickly kneeled beside the creature to try to help him, but the sudden movement did more harm than good in effectively startling the poor dolphin. The aquatic mammal out of water bucked and made a strange sound in what she supposed was fear before abruptly giving up and flopping his nose back down in the sand. Her chest twisted at the sight. It was worse than those animal charity commercials on television.

Immediately after that thought, the blue waves broke in white as a head shot out of the water. Instinctively, Annabeth leaned away with a face of total shock. Once the sudden rush of adrenaline gave her bloodstream the slip, she found the head to belong to a boy with black hair and eyes that looked like the ocean itself, deep green with some odd shades of blue in there for good measure. The swimming boy seemed to shift a little closer to the dolphin before whirling around and staring straight at Annabeth. An awkward silence covered the shore before he ducked out of sight and disappeared under the water, leaving the girl sitting there in bewildered curiosity.

Against most of her better judgement, the girl took a deep breath and stuck her head under the water. Struggling against the salty needles that were now burrowing themselves into her eyes, she found the boy to be swimming behind the endangered animal and struggling with something, his feet churning viciously in the water. Lifting her gaze, she found his hands to be clawing at some rough fisherman's netting that was circled around the poor dolphin's tail and back. Before she could look any longer, her chest started screaming at her to find oxygen that _wasn't_ chemically bonded with hydrogen already. Annabeth pulled out of the water with a gasp, her hair sticking to her face and reeking of saltwater. She struggled for her breath for a moment, her right hand clutching her chest as her heart slammed against her orange shirt. She relaxed as her heart rate decreased before abruptly remembering that she was in fact wearing a hat. Her hands jumped to her head to find her beloved baseball cap still perched on her head. She broke the silence with a sigh before placing it behind her on dry land and reaching in to her pocket.

"Hey," she reluctantly called out. "You're not going to break those ropes with your bare hands. You'll need to cut them first." The sound of the water responded to her before the boy lifted his head from the water again and stared at her with silent interest. Taking another look at him, it was pretty obvious that he was around her age. Annabeth took a deep breath in preparation before pulling out her pocket knife. The boy immediately reacted with a sharp shot backwards, putting distance between them. "Whoa, wait a second," she sputtered as he nearly dove under again, his nose already halfway underwater. "You'll need this to cut the ropes!"

He stopped and looked back up to her. He remained silent as he scanned her face with his brilliant eyes. Looking in his gaze, Annabeth could clearly see him thinking things over, as if he was unsure about her offer. Eventually, he rose back up from the water, gave her a nod and held out his hand to her, waiting for the knife. The blond moved just a bit closer and tried to shift the blade in her hand to give him access to the handle, but he abruptly reached out and snatched it from her blade-first, cutting himself in the process. He snapped back with a cringe just as Annabeth let out her own sound of shock. The boy pulled his hand away and stared at it in confusion as red slowly slipped from his skin and pooled in his palm.

"What were you thinking," she snapped. The dolphin beside her bucked again and let out another horrible sound of displeasure, making her hiss and lower her voice just a bit, her anger still swirling in her words. "Why in the world would you grab a knife by the blade?! Do you have seaweed in your brain from swimming too long," she sarcastically asked. The boy gave her a bitter glare before holding his uncut hand out towards her, prompting her for the knife again. Annabeth narrowed her eyes before moving the knife closer to her.

"You're not going to grab it by the blade again, are you?" The boy shook his head and curled his fingers towards himself in impatience. The blond rolled her eyes and eventually gave him the knife, this time making sure he had a proper grip on the handle. He gave her a dignified nod before slipping back under the water, leaving her shouting, "Don't lose my pocket knife!" at the ripples he left behind.

It was only after the ripples melted back into the surface of the ocean that Annabeth remembered the cut on his palm. Her chest tightened at the thought of the burning pain that came with open wounds in saltwater. There was a reason the expression 'like salt in an open wound' existed, after all. She pulled away from the water and ran a hand through her damp hair in frustration. "He really is a Seaweed Brain," she muttered to herself. "First he cuts himself by grabbing the wrong end of a knife, then he sticks his bleeding hand in the water." She shook her head and sighed. "Why do I always find the ones with really thick skulls?"

Her grey eyes shifted back to the water, taking a quick glance to see if the boy was polluting the water with his blood. To her surprise, there wasn't a single puff of red in the deep blues and greens. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. How in the world wasn't the water red? His palm was collecting blood like rainwater in a torrential downpour after he cut himself! Curious, Annabeth took another deep breath and stuck her head back in the water.

Her eyes struggled to adjust to the burning water before she took in the sight of the boy struggling yet again with her pocket knife. The blond soon found his injured hand resting beside his deep green swimtrunks, hanging limply beside him as he fumbled with the knife and the ropes. The boy's face burned with frustration before he switched hands with the knife and started using the very hand he had cut to wield the knife. The sharp suffocation slipped back in Annabeth's chest before she could watch any longer, forcing her to resurface and gulp down more fresh air. Her ears pounded with retreating water as her mind scrambled over the sight of his right hand. It looked untouched, as if had never hurt himself. Thinking back on when he was out of the water, he didn't look shriveled from being in the water too long, either.

She shook her head to shake off the impossible thoughts. Perhaps she was dehydrated from being in the sun so long? After the dolphin was back in the water, and she had her favorite pocket knife back, she would head up to the boardwalk with Grover and find something cold to drink. Her attention snapped back to the dolphin. With a jolt, she realized that his skin was looking less and less reflective and more dried out. Annabeth frantically started cupping water with her hands and pouring in on the animal's back, trying to focus on rescuing the animal instead of wondering about hallucinations from a lack of water.

After what felt like hours—but was really only three minutes—the boy came back to the surface. He found Annabeth trying to rub the water into the dolphin's skin, trying to hydrate him. He gave her an impressed look before holding her pocket knife back to her. She eagerly took it back and put it back in its rightful place in her pocket. She then looked back to find the boy under the water again. He popped back up seconds later with a frayed netting that must have been around the underwater mammal. He angrily hurled it back on dry land and then turned his attention back to the animal. He gently grabbed the dolphin's sides and tried to move him back in the water, his eyes narrowed with focus and worry. Annabeth took up the effort and started taking handfuls of sand out from under the dolphin's beached stomach, pushing it back in the water and bringing up a fist of saltwater to help wash it away and moisturize the animal.

"Shouldn't we call someone," the blond suddenly blurted as they worked. The thought of there being a marine animal rescue center in the city jumped back as the rush of helping the dolphin started to wane. The boy looked up at her with a horrified, almost offended face, with wide eyes and an open mouth. She just gave him a serious expression in return, her hands giving the animal more water as she talked. "I mean, he might be seriously injured. They could take him in and fix him up with actual medicines and veterinarian care." The black-haired boy shook his head wildly before angrily splashing water towards her. "Hey," Annabeth complained as she jumped back. Her shirt was now sticking to her shoulders and smelling of saltwater, irritating her. She glared at the boy as he returned to trying to bring the dolphin back in the water with a more frantic speed.

"Look here, mister marine animal rights activist," she growled. The boy just glared at her out of the corner of his eyes, giving the mammal the vast majority of his attention. "I don't care if you don't like the idea; it's what you're supposed to do if you find a beached dolphin or whale, _especially_ if they're caught in a net like this one. Otherwise," she huffed, "The poor thing could die!" The boy gave her another shake of his head before focusing back on the dolphin. Annabeth felt her patience thin even further as she took another deep breath and tried to calm herself. "If you're so against getting him to a rescue center, what's your plan of action?"

The black-haired boy simply motioned to the dolphin with both hands before lifting his hands and bringing them down towards the water, as if he had picked the animal up and placed him back in the water. The girl glared at him for a moment before huffing, "Your plan is to literally just put him back in the ocean?!" He nodded enthusiastically, as if he was very proud of his idea. He returned to trying to execute his plan, moving the sand at the dolphin's stomach away so there would be a smooth slope to slide him back into the water on. "That's ridiculous," she snapped. "He'll end up dying in the ocean, you know!" The boy ignored her and instead dug away at the shoreline.

Soon, the slope was finished. Annabeth dropped another handful of water over the creature only to freeze in place as the boy wrapped his arms around the dolphin and tried to lift him back into the water. His eyes squeezed shut with his effort and he only managed to slip the poor thing back a measly few centimetres. The blond watched him for a moment before sighing and picking the dolphin up under his fins. The mammal released a hopeful yet mournful sound as both teenagers lifted in sync with each other and eased him down the slope. Their efforts were rewarded with the dolphin being returned to the water and the marine mammal slowly dipped back under the surface.

Annabeth held her breath in silence as the boy floated there, only exposing everything above his shoulders to the open air. The captive part of the ocean in his eyes brightened at nothing before he suddenly dipped back under the water. The girl moved backwards a little before trying to look under the water again. Before she could do so, the dolphin and teenage boy both came back up for air. The boy smiled at the recused animal before gently rubbing his fingers down the dolphin's spine, as if he was petting him. A few chirps came from the animal's mouth before it ducked back under the water and bolted away, leaving the two teenagers alone. The girl watched the boy stare off towards the ocean for a few minutes before finally speaking up.

"Do you know that dolphin," she asked hesitantly. The boy continued staring for a few moments before snapping his head back to her, as if he was just now hearing her. He tilted his head in silent confusion, making Annabeth let out a puff of air and brush her drying hair back over her shoulders. "First of all, are you going to even _try_ to speak to me? It's a little hard to communicate with someone when they just stay silent." The boy lifted a hand to his chin as if he was thinking things over before shaking his head and sticking his tongue out at her, as if further taunting her. The girl felt her blood boil at this, but she held her breath and tried to ignore his immaturity. "Seaweed Brain," she muttered to herself, trying to release some of her frustration. She then lifted her chin and tried to talk to him again, her grey eyes sharp and narrowed. "Do you know that dolphin," she repeated. The boy visibly stiffened for a moment at her words. She tilted her head a bit and reached behind her for her hat, making sure that it was still in place. Her fingers brushed against the brim and she lifted it back to her head, feeling a bit calmer with her favorite hat back in its rightful place.

The boy's eyes clouded before he eventually nodded at her, not looking her in the eye. A sweet rush of satisfaction entered her bloodstream at the sight. "I knew it," she announced. "That's why you didn't want anyone coming to rescue him; you thought they were going to take him away and never bring him back to the ocean." The black-haired boy nodded again, this time very slowly. She smiled at the fact that she was right before frowning a bit. "But," she whispered more to herself than him, "Was he even well enough to be in the ocean? His tail was all wrapped up in that fisherman's net." Her eyes fluttered back to the netting to prove her point, and her mind silently reminded her to dispose of it properly so it wouldn't endanger any other wildlife.

He nodded violently this time, as if he was absolutely certain that the dolphin belonged in the ocean. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Crazy marine animal rights activists," she cursed under her breath. "Endangering animals just because they don't want them in aquariums." She was suddenly splashed by the boy, making her let out a groan and shield her face. Her arms and shirt were once again drenched, and she angrily glared at his scowl as water dripped from her hair. "Look here, Seaweed Brain, as that's what's obviously in your head," she growled, "I don't think he should be in an aquarium, either. I just thought that he could do well with a bit of modern medicine and veterinary care. He belongs in the ocean, but he could use a little help to recover."

The boy stared at her for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding his head and looking away, as if he was bitter about agreeing with her. Annabeth just shook her head at him. "Look, you wouldn't want him bleeding—" Her voice caught in her throat as she suddenly remembered how the black-haired boy had cut his hand on her pocket knife and yet there was never a drop of blood in the water. She narrowed her eyes and hummed to herself in thought. She hadn't imagined it, had she? His hand didn't look cut when she saw it in the water. She inhaled and turned her attention back to the boy. "Show me your hands," she blurted.

The boy leaned backwards in confusion before rolling his eyes at her. With a splash, his hands appeared in the air, unwrinkled and unmarked. He wiggled his fingers at her while leaning his head forward and scrunching up his nose, as if making fun of her question. Annabeth didn't mind it. Instead, she just smirked in triumph.

"I knew it, I knew it," she proudly declared. The boy looked at her as if she was crazy, his deep green eyes narrowed and judgmental. The blond just beamed and pointed at his uninjured right hand. "Your hand doesn't have a scratch on it!" The boy then looked back at his palm with a curious expression, obviously baffled by her excitement. He then looked back up at her and shrugged, giving Annabeth just a bit more pride at her discovery. "You cut yourself on my pocket knife, remember," she slyly chided. The boy paled and stared straight at her. "I know you cut yourself," she continued, "You were bleeding before you tried to help that dolphin. When I checked to see if you could cut through the ropes though, you didn't have a scratch _and_ there wasn't a drop of blood in the water!" The girl watched as the boy gulped and shut his eyes as if he wasn't feeling well. "How do explain that, Seaweed Brain," she asked triumphantly.

He didn't. Instead, the boy's eyes snapped open and he rammed his arm into the water, splashing Annabeth all over her body. Her grey eyes shut out of reflex and she turned her head away, groaning at getting wet yet again. She desperately tried to shake it off and opened her eyes only to find the boy gone. She growled at his disappearance before sticking her head back in the water to see if he was hiding under the surface. Her eyes strained only to find nothing but an empty space where he was swimming. She pulled her head out of the water with a frustrated snarl, unable to believe that he had disappeared so quickly. Her hands lifted her cap from her head and she wrung out her hair, her eyes glaring at the sparkling water ahead of her. She _really_ wanted to know how in the world that happened. She could accept that there was a beached dolphin in her favorite reading spot. She could take that there was a boy who wouldn't speak a word to her that was trying to put the animal back in the water. What she could not accept was that the boy cut himself on her knife and then didn't have a trace of an injury when she saw his hand again.

Feeling a sudden suffocating feeling in her lungs, Annabeth swiftly pulled her knife back out and examined the blade. Her heart sank as she found the blade to be clean. She mentally scolded herself as she calmly tucked the knife back in her pocket and placing her hat back on her head. Of course the water had washed the blood off. Even if the boy had miraculously lost all traces of his wound, the water would wash off the blade regardless. There were certain rules of the world that could not be broken, such as water washing things away.

Or that wounds would not heal if you left them alone and stuck them in seawater.

"Annabeth," a voice shouted from behind her. The girl gasped and stood up, her eyes fluttering back to the small pathway she had come from to get here. She recognized that voice. It was impossible not to, what with how loud and boastful it was with just a single sound. It was like his voice never stopped praising himself, even if his words did. A boy with short blond hair and a noticeable scar on his face from the corner of his eye all the way to his chin walked awkwardly inside of her small enclosure, his face clearly displaying his frustration at stepping around multiple rocks and pillars of stone. Annabeth didn't even have to look to know that it was Luke.

"We have to get going," he muttered as he stared at her bag of unfinished books—oh, such a pity she didn't get the chance to read them all. "It's getting late and it's starting to get cloudy." The girl looked up at the sky to find that clouds had indeed started to cover the marvelous blue of a perfect summer sky. He pointed to her totebag before giving her a small smile. "Pick up your books and come on. Grover and Thalia are waiting over on the boardwalk." He went to turn and leave the tidal pools before he suddenly snapped his attention back to her drenched clothing. Luke stared at her wet clothes before shaking his head. "Next time you want to go swimming," he chuckled, raising an eyebrow at the odd sight, "Come and tell us! We would have walked back to your house to go and get your swimming stuff. You're father's not going to be happy that you're soaked to the bone." The blond boy then turned around and walked away at a slow pace, giving her plenty of time to gather her stuff and follow him.

Annabeth stared at his back before regretfully picking up her book bag and towel and turning to follow him. She abruptly remembered about the fisherman's net on the rocks. The girl snatched it up and speedwalked after Luke in an effort to catch up. As she slipped the totebag's strap up to sit on her shoulder and walked around a pointed rock—that Luke had stepped on and cursed at even though he couldn't possibly feel that through his fancy leather sandals—her mind wandered back to the boy and the dolphin. Finding a dolphin stuck on the beach was crazy enough without a strange boy who wouldn't speak a word and seemed to not understand the basic laws of the universe. The memories of what happened beside the tidal pools made a strange feeling come in her chest, as if she swallowed cotton balls and couldn't cough them back up to get rid of that stuffy, itchy feeling. Something wasn't right about that meeting. Something beyond the boy's silence and his miraculous lack of a cut on his hand.

While the two caught up with Grover and Thalia, her mind kept turning the encounter over and over and over in her mind, twisting and turning it around to look at it from every angle and try to find just some sort of rational explanation for the irrational happenings that transpired there. However, no matter how she twisted the facts and tried to find some sort of truth that wouldn't break multiple laws of the universe, she just couldn't find a logical reason behind the incident with her pocket knife. She _had_ watched him cut his palm open. He _had_ bled actual blood. There _had_ been a wound on his hand. All of these facts were inexcusable. Unfortunately, so was the clear observation that his hand was uninjured from every point after he put it in the water.

When they walked back home, all she could think about was that one crucial fact. She hadn't wanted to go to the beach today. She didn't want to find a stranded dolphin and a universal law-breaking boy. She had just wanted to read her books in peace and relax. Instead she received what she didn't want.

From every angle she looked at it, this day was not what she was expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note Incoming:  
>  _Author's Note: Hey there! I'm Illusions of Insanity and I've written a little three-shot for you guys! I was recently recommended to try the Percy Jackson series and after reading only the first two books, I'm already rushing to write something for this amazing series. As I have only read books one and two, I decided to write an AU before I try anything canon-related. I'm going to explain right now that Annabeth's little circle is based on when she came to Camp Half-Blood, which is why it might be a bit different from what you normally see. Another note I'd like to include is that Annabeth and all of her little buddies still have ADHD and Dyslexia, though Dyslexia won't play a big part in this. Other than that, this is a modern AU that does keep some elements of the series. What are those elements? They'll show up in the next two chapters._
> 
> _I'd like to thank Nighttyger for being my beta reader and making sure my characterizations were positively accurate. Thanks so much! Your advice made this so much easier to write than if I had to do it alone._
> 
> _On a side note, please try not to put spoilers in your lovely reviews. I still have to wait for book three to be returned to my library before I can read any further. :U The agony!_
> 
> _Hope you all enjoy this little mini-series! Thank you for reading!_
> 
> New Author's Note: Pfft, waiting for Titan's Curse from the library... crazy. And here we are in the tail end of the Apollo series (new spoiler warnings! please don't spoil The Burning Maze and beyond D:) It's crazy to think this was written five years ago... Thank you for reading! I'll add the originally published chapters a little at a time, maybe one a week or every couple of days? I'll figure it out.


	2. Annabeth Catches Seaweed Brain-itis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth was just about to agree when she saw something move out in the water. Grey eyes snapped back to the monstrous waves to see a flash of black pop out of the water before sinking back under the surface. Her chest tightened as she abruptly remembered the boy who had helped her rescue the beached dolphin a week ago. She felt her heart sink into her stomach as she suddenly had a ridiculous idea. Was that the boy she saw that day? She tried to shake the idea away, but it kept popping back into her mind. He had seemed so at home in the water, as if he could stay in it all day. Besides, he claimed he was friends with that dolphin. Would he have been dumb enough to come down to the beach and check on the creature?
> 
> The flash of black returned again, this time lingering long enough to actually take the shape of someone's head. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered how he had grabbed her pocket knife blade-first and cut his palm right open. Oh, he was dumb enough alright.

The next time Annabeth went to the beach was a little over a week later. The group had decided on killing some hours at the arcade a few blocks from the beach, playing the classics such as Pac-Man and some of those newer racing games. Luke was especially eager to try out this racing game that had four-player mode capabilities, meaning that no one would have to play in brackets as they always had done before. The quartet walked down the sidewalk in a single file line, with Luke in the lead, Thalia happily trotting behind him, Grover oddly galloping on his crutches and Annabeth taking up the rear. The young blond reached up for her cap as a sudden burst of wind sliced through the teenagers.

"They weren't kidding about that storm," Grover shouted above the sudden increase in noise. All eyes focused on him as they slowed their pace and listened. "The weatherman said that there's going to be really harsh winds for the next few hours and really dangerous waves at the shoreline." Annabeth blinked as a few raindrops suddenly started falling on them. "We'll be lucky if all of main street isn't flooded by tomorrow morning," he finished.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. If main street was flooded, that meant that not a soul was going to be able to pass through there for _days_. That meant no afternoons out and about and _no_ trips to the library to pick up or return books. A terrible crime, if you asked her. The blond lifted her head to see everyone staring at the beach beside them. Her fingers gripped the brim of her cap with determination as she stared at the open water.

Waves five feet high and capped with white foam were racing for the shoreline and slamming into them with all their might, as if they were trying to destroy the very beach itself. The grey sky overhead churned and moaned as it released entire ocean's worth of water on the heads of anyone it could touch. The wind howled and screamed with all of its might, enraged to the point of a vicious screaming match with nothing at all. Grey eyes narrowed as she looked out at the water. The saltwater was luminous shade of green; it was beautiful in a striking, terrifying way. It caught her eye and held it tight, refusing to let her attention drift away.

"Annabeth," someone shouted beside her. The blond jolted in place to find Luke giving her a worried look. "You okay," he asked a bit gentler. Thalia was giving her a very concerned look, while Grover watched them all with a mirror of Thalia's own expression. "You were staring off into space."

"Yeah," she muttered. "I'm just fine." Her lack of enthusiasm wasn't fooling anyone, though. She turned her eyes back to the water and frowned at the vicious waves that were ravaging the sand and hurling an assortment of marine plants on dry land. "The beach looks terrible like this. It's like it's tearing itself apart."

"That's probably why they closed it for today." Luke shrugged as he watched another pillar of water crash into the beach. "They said that it's far too dangerous for anyone to hang out in this weather." His eyes lifted to the grey skies, narrowing in an effort to shield themselves from the spears of water that were falling down. He eventually shook his head and sighed, closing his eyes in defeat. "We should probably head back home. I wouldn't want to get stuck out here when things get worse." Grover and Thalia nodded and voiced their agreement, realizing that the storm wasn't the best weather for leaving the house.

Annabeth was just about to agree when she saw something move out in the water. Grey eyes snapped back to the monstrous waves to see a flash of black pop out of the water before sinking back under the surface. Her chest tightened as she abruptly remembered the boy who had helped her rescue the beached dolphin a week ago. She felt her heart sink into her stomach as she suddenly had a ridiculous idea. Was that the boy she saw that day? She tried to shake the idea away, but it kept popping back into her mind. He had seemed so at home in the water, as if he could stay in it all day. Besides, he claimed he was friends with that dolphin. Would he have been dumb enough to come down to the beach and check on the creature?

The flash of black returned again, this time lingering long enough to actually take the shape of someone's head. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered how he had grabbed her pocket knife blade-first and cut his palm right open. Oh, he was dumb enough alright. With a great sigh, the blond turned towards her friends with a smile. She could not believe that she was going to be so stupid. "Hey Luke," Annabeth began, "Could you hang on to my hat for me?" The boy gave her a baffled look before slowly nodding his head.

"Yeah, I could hang on to your hat for you," he trailed off. "Why in the world would you want me to, though? I thought you didn't like it when other people carried your stuff."

Annabeth shoved her favorite baseball cap into his hands before giving her shoes a bitter smile. "Because I'm going to do something stupid." She then ran off down the entrance of the beach, ignoring how her friends shouted at her and tried to call her back up to the sidewalk. She ducked under multiple rolls of caution tape before reached the boardwalk. The floorboards creaked and moaned as she scurried by, leaving thick clouds of upturned sand as she ran. The wind seemed to be louder and she got closer, the force of it slamming into her chest and pushing her away. Still she only stopped when she was at the shoreline, the rain slamming into her clothes and stealing the warmth from her skin. The air smelled of salt and metal all at once and she scrunched up her nose to push the scent away. As the water slammed into her shins, she took a deep breath and jumped in the water.

Her body was shoved away for a few heart-wrenching moments before she could open her eyes under the water. The salt was once again piercing her eyes and threatening her to leave the water. Instead, she tried to find the boy she knew that she saw. He had to be out here; she would not accept seeing things and making a fool out of herself by entering dangerous waters. Her eyes caught a flash of black and green and she squinted to bring it into focus. Her breath rushed out her nose at the mere sight of what she found. Her chest screaming and shouting in pain from this, Annabeth forced her head to the surface. She gulped the wet air before forcing herself back under. She focused again on what she saw and her heart sank in her chest.

The boy was there under the water, thrashing and struggling against something that was holding him in place. Only, the thing wasn't tangled up around his legs or feet. Instead, the shark net that surrounded the usable area of the ocean water was coiled around a long, emerald green _tail_. Not feet, not his legs, but a tail like a dolphin. Annabeth rose back to surface to breathe again, letting the waves lift her up and try to slam her back down under the water. Oh, of course she saw something that made no sense at all again. First the boy miraculously loses a cut on his palm, then she sees him thrashing around with a tail instead of legs. Just perfect. For a fraction of a second, she thought about turning around and going back up to the sidewalk. There was no way this was real, after all. There was no _way_ that the boy had a tail like a fish.

Then her eyes caught something in the green water. Her heart stopped as she watched a cloud of blood drift up to the surface, stringing out across the surface like a spider's web. If he didn't bleed when he cut himself on her knife, he was certainly bleeding now. The girl knew very well that in storms like this, sharks tended to stray closer towards the shore than they would otherwise. Worst yet, they would instinctively come swimming from miles away at the slightest hint of blood in the water. Annabeth couldn't just leave him there. With another deep breath, she ducked back under the water and struggled closer to the boy.

By now, his thrashing had slowed down, as if he was slowly giving up. Her heart slammed against her chest at the sight. As she got closer, the blond could see that the netting was burrowing into his skin—or scales, to be more precise—and drawing blood that rose up in thick clouds to the skin of the ocean. His arms were pulling at the white threads desperately, even as it dug into his fingers and threatened him with even more wounds. He seemed to stop moving for a moment as she swam beside him. His black hair shot up as looked up from his tail. Green eyes looked at her with shock, confusion and something that passed too quickly for Annabeth to pinpoint. The girl motioned for him to stay where he was—as if he had a choice—and then took another gulp of hair from the surface. She dipped back down to find him weakly struggling against the net, trying to get away from its grasp. The blond scrunched up her eyes to try and protect them from the salt before slowly reaching down into her pocket and pulling out her knife.

The result was instantaneous. The boy's head shot up to stare at her and his eyes flashed with raw fear. He started thrashing even worse than before, even trying to maneuver his tail to ram into her. His efforts were fruitless and after a few moments he gave up entirely. Instead his deep green eyes looked at her with forfeit shimmering in their depths, as if he was too tired to move any more. Annabeth could feel that horrible pressure come back to her chest and she lifted herself back up to the fresh air in frustration. She could never hold her breath that long to begin with and the harsh currents weren't exactly helping her case. The girl angrily entered the muted world under the surface and moved a bit closer to the boy, showing him her knife again. He just shut his eyes and dipped his chin.

Annabeth carefully moved the blade towards the netting and tried to locate some sort of opening or space she could stick the sharp edge in without injuring him. She eventually found a space that he had torn wider than the others and set to work in cutting the thin strands with her knife. The blade's tip easily sliced the weakened thread. She turned her grey eyes back to the boy as they began to burn. She had been under the water for some time now and the salt was digging into her skin and itching as if she had stuck her open eyes in a box of sand. She forced herself to get another batch of air for her lungs before returning to work. Her fingers cautiously forced an opening for the knife to work with without hurting him, leaving her fingers screeching out in pain from the lack of circulation.

The black-haired boy slowly lifted his head as she continued to work. From the corners of her eyes she watched him give her a curious expression before suddenly having an epiphany and hurrying to help pull the net in a way that would give her room to cut him free. She worked diligently, cutting square by square as she fought to get him out of the net. The rough waves above her head seemed to slow after a few minutes and the terrible downpour faded away into a very light sprinkle. She cut the last square with a grunt of focus, releasing a few bubbles from her nose. Her head shot up immediately to try and escape from the burning pain in her nose. She took eager gulps of air before looking down at the water's surface. A few seconds later, the boy popped his head back above the water.

The boy stared at the blond for a few moments, his eyes shimmering with thankfulness. His hands gripped the cut net with a renewed determination. The faced each other before he opened his mouth slightly, as if he was going to say something. He stopped himself almost immediately though, and his lips slammed shut without a sound. Instead he smiled at her and floated a bit towards her before turning around swimming away in a flash, leaving a trail of white foam where he had been. Annabeth stared after him in numb confusion as her brain tried to comprehend what just happened.

She had rushed out into the ocean a storm _on a whim_ to see if that boy was somewhere in the water. She ended up finding him trapped in the beach's shark net before realizing that he had a _tail_ instead of legs and that he was indeed wrapped in it as the dolphin had been the last time they had met. She had then risked her safety to try and free him with his pocket knife, even when her eyes felt like they were going to bleed and she was going to drown from staying under so long. Either she was going crazy or she was _really_ going crazy.

"Annabeth," Luke screamed behind her. The blond turned around to find him swimming towards her with crazed eyes of panic. He stopped beside her before starting to try and redirect her back to the shore. "Are you insane," he snapped. "You just ran out into the ocean during a storm for no reason! You could have drowned out here!"

"I'm sorry," she muttered as she gently pushed herself back to the sand, her hand slipping her pocket knife back into her jeans. "I thought I saw some—"

"Coming out here just to rescue a dolphin," he huffed, interrupting her completely. "You've lost it! You're not even the strongest swimmer out of all of us!" Annabeth looked at him in confusion as he scowled at the water. "You scared us half to death," he continued as the girl wondered where in the world he had gotten _dolphin_ from _drowning boy with a tail_. "You're so lucky that the storm died down while you were out there! Even I couldn't swim against that current! I don't even know how you got out that far in those waves." Despite his excited shouting, it was obvious that he was worried sick over what just happened.

The two touched the shore to be swarmed by Grover and Thalia, the two spouting worried question after worried question as Annabeth just hugged her drenched body and tried to keep her mind from freaking out. She had just seen a boy with a tail who was trapped in a shark net. She had just _saved_ a boy with a tail who was trapped in a shark net. Somewhere in the confusion, Thalia removed her beloved black jacket from her shoulders and wrapped it around the blond's own instead. The girl was too focused in her own thoughts to care for the moment. She was too bewildered by what had just happened out there.

As the rain died away completely and the grey clouds slowly started to evaporate from the air, the group wandered back up to the sidewalk. "Please, don't ever do that again," Luke finally sighed as his fear started to ebb away. "Next time you think you see something out in the ocean during a storm," he explained as he pulled Annabeth's cap out of his bag and pulled it back over her head, "Tell us. We'll call that marine rescue center in the city and they can come and check it out."

"Remember," Grover said in a shaky voice, "If you see someone drowning you row a boat, throw something for them to hang on to but you _never_ under any circumstances swim out to them. They could drown you with them, Annabeth."

"Grover," Luke grumbled as he glared at the returning patches of blue in the sky. "That's for when people are drowning. She saw a dolphin out there and went to get it. Dolphins cannot get in boats or hold onto flotation devices."

Grover just muttered something about everyone understanding the general idea of what he was saying while Annabeth slowly regained her breath. Her chest eased as she pulled Thalia's jacket around her a bit tighter. Grover had a point. She should have remembered that whole thing about never entering the water in an emergency. The schools have only been teaching them a rhyme to go with that rule ever since they were like, seven years old. Still in the heat of the moment she threw reason out the window and rushed in as if she was a headstrong idiot with something to prove. She ran in there like she had seaweed for brains. She smiled weakly at the thought. More things that broke the many rules of the universe aside, she was at least happy that the boy had gotten out alright. He probably had quite a few cuts from the netting, but he escaped with his tail intact.

The teenagers decided that while Annabeth's decision was very stupid and someone should probably know that she was out in five foot tall waves in a desperate attempt to free a trapped dolphin—she still wasn't sure how they saw a dolphin out there, but then again she saw feet and legs on that boy last time she was at this very beach—they should not speak a single sound of this to any of their parents. It was quickly realized that if they spoke of this, they would either be grounded for the rest of their lives and the lives of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren or they would be banned from ever seeing each other again. Probably a mixture of both to be perfectly honest. The kids instead decided to dry off at a fast food joint near the arcade, get a bite to eat and then head over to the building filled with video games to avoid suspicion. Annabeth just went along with the plan and ignored how they somehow managed to mix up the most important fact of her whole unadvised misadventure as her body slowly stopped feeling numb and heavy and started feeling painful and heavy.

She swore right then and there that she was _never_ going to go back to the ocean ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> _Author's Note: Hey there! Looks like Annabeth has a really good knack at finding very strange things that make little to no sense. After staying away for a whole week, she still manages to run into the strange boy with black hair and green eyes. Just who is this mysterious boy with a tail? (It's kinda obvious it's Percy, but Annabeth doesn't know that, does she? ;D) Will things start to make sense at this little beach, or will this be the summer of no answers and ten-thousand questions?_
> 
> _I'd also like to thank all of you for the warm reception of this story! Seeing you guys interested in this really makes me happy! Many thanks to those of you who left me a review; it's very encouraging to hear what you have to say about this story!_
> 
> _Stick around to catch the conclusion in the next chapter!_


	3. Annabeth finds Merpeople aren't Seafood

Let it be known to the entire universe that Annabeth Chase was _not_ a liar.

When she had mentally vowed never to return to the beach, she had meant every word of it. However when it came down to staying home alone when her parents were at work or heading out to catch up to her friends, who had left without her when she insisted that she was going to work on her summer essay for school instead of following them to the beach again, she changed her mind. She was not a chicken or some sort of mindless follower who needed to be chasing after people all day. She just would rather hang out with her friends than sit around and watch television—because she's read her books ten thousand times and the library is closed on Sundays.

Thalia had called her on her cellphone and explained the gameplan to her when she laced up her sneakers and started jogging to the beach. Thalia had actually planned today's activity, which had been unanimously been decided that they would tour the old historic lighthouse that none of them had ever visited before except for when they were in like the first grade and were definitely _not_ paying attention to the teacher in the slightest. Annabeth had to admit that it sounded like a better idea than their last few get-togethers—the petting zoo where Grover got his broken legs would forever be the worst idea they had ever had—and eventually caved in to the idea of heading back to the beach. Besides, they kinda _did_ live in a beachside city. Other teenagers would kill to have the chance to permanently enjoy the sun, surf and sand.

As the blond stopped above the path to the beach, her eyes caught the ocean's gentle waves. It had been around a month since she had saved the dolphin and only around a few weeks at most since her infamous—at least with her circle of friends—stunt in the storm. In the back of her mind, Annabeth could still see the boy with black hair, brilliant green eyes and she still couldn't believe it, a tail like a fish. She nervously scratched at her chin as she drummed her fingers on her leg. She wasn't too keen on coming back after seeing that strange boy. She was no stranger to mythology and the closest she could find was the obvious answer that such traits belonged to a siren, a creature that was known to sing men into a stupor, driving them either to the brink of insanity or the sharp claws of their cliffs. They would drown the crew before devouring them alive—not a pretty illustration in any of those encyclopedias she had read. The only problem with that idea was that sirens were exclusively a female creature that were historically bird-like in appearance, meaning her encounters were thankfully not anywhere near that. Another thing was that sirens were _mythological_ creatures, meaning they under no uncertain circumstances existed. They were stories made up by some people in Greece that had a bit too much poisonous gases in the air from their little perch in Delphi.

She was just going try and blame it all on dehydration and perhaps those cheap pizza leftovers Luke had let them have the day of the incident. It was better trying to convince herself that she was not functioning properly than trying to find a rational explanation for the boy with a tail—even if she didn't believe her own lies.

Annabeth stumbled down the slope to reach the pier where most of the boats were docked, including the ferry that took people across the water and out to the lighthouse a good couple miles away from the shore. As she stopped in front of Thalia and caught up on what shenanigans Luke had done while she was gone—which never ceased to disappoint—a horrible feeling rose in her chest. First it was a cold chill right above her heart, as if some otherworldly spirit was clawing at it in some desperate attempt to steal it away from her body. Then, the chill abruptly became a burning fire with the suffocation that came with a lack of breath, making her feel as if she was being constricted and force-fed liquid flames. As the unfortunate blond gulped with a dry throat, she knew exactly what was going on. The only way to get to the lighthouse was on a boat, and she had _terrible_ seasickness.

It was ironic, really. Annabeth Chase was not only laughably seasick at the shortest of ocean travel, she was also allergic to seafood. She was a bit luckier on the allergy end of the stick; she was able to touch the stuff without breaking out into hives or some horrible rash but if she ingested any of the supposed bounties of the sea, she might as well reserve a place in the nurse's office. It was yet another reason why these trips to the beach were never something people would expect her to partake in. She wasn't the strongest swimmer—Thalia was, actually—, she couldn't eat fish and the rocking of the 'saltwater cradle' that sailors adored made her want to literally vomit off the starboard bow. Still she came here because her friends came and she was more than willing to push those things aside to hang out and have a little fun.

Things only got worse when the ferry that the group was planning on using was filled to the brim and unable to have room for a late arrival. In other words, the boat was full and thanks to her staying home and working on her paper, she couldn't fit on the boat. Luke and the others had offered to wait for her and catch the returning boat in around five minutes, but she just smiled and insisted that they take the first boat out. They could grab some of those paper pamphlets before all of the tourists took them and they wouldn't have a clue at what anything was there. She would be fine in waiting for them. She eventually convinced them to go when the captain started yelling that if they held up his schedule any longer that the three of them could kiss their seats goodbye and the boat took off into the green and blue abyss.

Annabeth waited on the concrete with a stone in her stomach and a chest full of sea urchins. She didn't just get sick on boat rides, she feared getting sick. On the aforementioned class trip to the lighthouse, the young girl had gotten so sick that she had thrown up on the floor of the boat and the whole ride back was filled with kids shouting and squealing at her in laughter. It was hard to admit, but she might as well had a phobia of boats. It would save her the excuses when she started feeling queasy. Her grey eyes lifted up just to see the boat pulling up to the dock and the captain calling everyone in, telling them that they would have a thirty minute trip or so out there. As her stomach dropped to her shoes, Annabeth reluctantly got on the boat and took a seat on the right side's benches. The boat was much emptier than the one before, leaving her sitting alone on the side. It was better that way; if she got sick, she wouldn't have people pestering her as she fought the urge to vomit.

The motor roared and pushed the boat away from the dock, taking solid ground away as an option. Almost immediately, the boat started rocking back and forth on the waves. The blond swallowed hard as both anxiety and nausea tried to devour her insides. The boat was much faster than it had been the last time she rode—which was again, first grade—and the speed combined with the choppy waves the hull kept jumping over made her feel violently ill. Annabeth leaned her head back and held her breath, trying to keep her stomach from ejecting everything she's ever eaten in her entire life. Laughter bounced in the air and a grey eye opened to find a bunch of children jumping up and down on the ship, trying to make it sway more. She quickly closed her eyes again and tried not to feel the shifting below her body. It was safe to say that it didn't work. She held her breath even as her lungs started to ache and her mind kept reminding her that she was moving back and forth and up and down—and oh why wouldn't the boat hold still?

Abruptly, the boat jumped yet another wave. Annabeth was leaning dangerously back even further in an effort to soothe her stomach when the ship lurched to the right, flinging her off the side. She opened her eyes just in time to see herself hit the water with a rough slap to the face. All of the stale air she had been holding slipped right out her mouth and lungs and in came a flood of water. Her lungs were burning despite the water and her mind was screaming and crying out for her to get air _now_. Thrashing and disoriented from the sudden pain and nausea compounded, the blond scrunched up her eyes and found herself much deeper under water than she had ever been before, even when she was trying to cut through the shark net. She struggled to turn herself around and swim up towards the surface as she held her waterlogged breath, even when it offered her no air. She felt her lungs seemingly burst as black dots clotted her vision like moths flying in front of her face. Annabeth felt herself slip further under the water as the world went black.

α

"...not dead, is she," a voice slowly merged with the black world Annabeth found herself submerged in. It didn't sound familiar to her, but it might have just been because her head was pounding off her shoulders and her lungs felt like they were in blistering pain. The girl focused on breathing as whoever had talked seemed to ramble on to themselves. "Oh, _please_ don't be dead," they whimpered. "I thought that made them better!" She inhaled the salt-stained air and tried to focus. Where was she? Her mind slowly started getting back to work, picking up the pieces of what had happened before now. She remembered getting on a boat to the lighthouse and feeling sicker than a dog before—

Crap! She fell in! Her grey eyes snapped open only to be stabbed with bright sunlight, making her hiss and turn her head away. A shocked gurgle returned her greeting before the sound of something moving reached her throbbing ears. "Okay, she's not dead. That's an improvement."

Annabeth slowly let her eyes open to see nothing but sand beside her. Her eyes shut again as they instinctively started tearing up, trying to force out the sheer amount of saltwater they had tolerated. She let out a groan of pain and tried to sit up, but her arms felt like they were made of lead. Instead she just flopped back down in the sand, lifted her head back upwards and forced her eyes open. She instantly found herself looking into a pair of green eyes. She jumped at the sight and ended up knocking their heads together, forcing whoever was leaning over her to move away and let out a long moan of pain.

"Ow," the voice complained in a muffled sort of way, as if they were covering their face with their hands. "That was my nose!" The voice became a bit clearer in her mind as she finally managed to sit up. As she rubbed her sore forehead, the voice started sounding more and more like a boy's voice. Abruptly, the thoughts she had been suppressing popped back up. Boy who was constantly in the water, magical healing cuts and a tail instead of legs... The girl snapped her attention over her shoulder to find a boy with black hair rubbing his nose with a frankly unintimidating scowl on his face.

Annabeth was apparently very unlucky, as it was obviously the same boy she had been running into the last two times she had came to the beach.

The boy was finally out of the water, making her realize that her earlier observations had been pretty much all she needed to know. Black hair, green eyes with odd shades of lighter green and blue in them, very slightly tanned—she stressed _slightly_ —skin that look pretty pale despite his efforts and a deep green tail. On closer inspection though she found that the tail was smooth like a dolphin's and yet reflected the light like individual scales. The spots where the sun glimmered were a lighter shade of green, similar to his eyes. As for how he had been covered in netting the last time she saw him, he didn't bear a scratch.

He pulled away his hands just in time to see Annabeth staring at his tail, her eyes fixated on the strange way it reflected the light. He let out a small huff before moving it slightly behind him, as if he was offended by her staring, the very tip of his fin still dipped in the water. Grey eyes snapped up to meet green ones as the boy gave her a goofy looking smile.

"It's a good thing you woke up; I was starting to think that perhaps I didn't know CPR like I thought I did." Annabeth just blinked at him as he combed his wet hair with his fingers, as if trying to move it away from his eyes. "It is sorta hard to learn it without ever practicing on someone other than a dolphin," he mused.

"You," she sputtered. The boy lifted an eyebrow as the blond tried to stand up, but she simply crashed back down to her knees again. She shook it off before looking back up at him and pointing. "You're the boy who cut himself on my knife, the Seaweed Brain." He frowned at her, his cheeks becoming a little pink in the process.

"First of all," he huffed, "That was an accident. I'm not used to things actually being able to hurt me, thanks." He narrowed his eyes for a minute before letting them relax a bit. "Second thing, I have a name, and I can promise you that it's not Seaweed Brain."

"Then what is it," Annabeth chuckled in an awkward sort of way. She felt like she was going crazy; there was no possible way that she was actually _talking_ to this...this... _mermaid boy_. She must have ingested more water than she thought.

The boy closed his eyes and moved his arm in front of his chest to give her a mock bow. She just blinked in confusion at his action. "I," he began as he lowered his head a little more, "am Percy." Percy waited for a moment before opening one eye and staring at Annabeth, waiting for a reaction.

"...Percy," she asked slowly, after a very long and awkward silence. The black-haired boy frowned as she just lifted an eyebrow at him and started tugging on her drenched sleeves as if trying to put them back over her arms. "Your name is Percy?"

"Yes," he sighed. He sat up straight and looked at her with mild confusion. "What? Why are you looking at me like I grew a second head or something."

The girl chuckled dryly to herself. _Perhaps it's because you have a tail_ , she thought to herself. Instead she shrugged her shoulders and started twisting the ends of her hair, drying the blond curls as best she could. "I don't know. It's just that Percy seems like such a normal name and you're...uh," she paused as she found his eyes narrowing in challenge.

"Oh, I see how it is." Percy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to make further eye contact with her. "You think that just because I have a tail, I'm gonna have some really weird name like Bonecruncher or Silverstream or something dumb like that, huh?" He looked at the girl out of the corner of his eyes as she shook her head at him and tried to cover up her embarrassment at speaking without thinking.

"No, no, no! Percy's a great name for a...uh..." She lost her voice again for a moment before hastily coming up with something. "It's a great name for a, uh, merboy! Yeah, a merboy!" Percy's eyes flashed with something akin to frustration and his cheeks turned bright red.

"I'm a mer _man_ ," he squealed. He brushed some more of his pitch black hair off of his cheeks as they burned brightly in the afternoon sunlight. "Not a mer _boy_ , a mer _man_! Honestly, I'm not a kid anymore..."

"Sorry," Annabeth offered nervously. Percy gave her a searching glance before he sighed and nodded his head.

"Nah, it's not that big of a deal." He paused for a moment before looking back at her and giving her a lopsided, awkward smile. "It's not like you called me a mermaid or a siren, so I'll forgive you. I mean," he rambled, "Sirens aren't even aquatic, you know? They're like part vulture or something and yet people think they live in the ocean." He stopped to look back at the girl across from him, his eyes unnaturally bright, as if they were luminescent.

He took a deep breath before shaking his head and scratching the back of his neck. "Actually," he mumbled, his eyes looking away as little drops of pink rose on his cheeks. "It's Perseus." Annabeth rose an eyebrow but Percy just shook his head. "I know, really old fashioned, right? Percy's just fine, honestly. I'd much rather be called that."

Annabeth just stared at him. Her mind was slowly picking up the pieces and now factoring in what was happening in front of her. The strange boy with a tail that she's met both of the times she's visited this beach was apparently named Perseus but wanted to be called Percy, had something against being called a boy instead of man when he looked all of sixteen if he was lucky and had a weird, almost feigned sort of hostility towards her—if she could even _consider_ calling his faint bluntness such a thing. She was literally talking to something out of a fairy tale and all she could do was stare at him and ponder where she had gone insane.

Hold the phone, did he say _CPR_? As in, actual CPR used on people who were drowning?!

Her mind rebounded and snapped back to his earlier words, making her scrunch her face up in confusion. "Hold on," Annabeth sputtered. Percy just tilted his head at her and brushed his hair aside again, as if irritated by it finally drying out for the first time since she's met him. "Did you say CPR?"

"Yeah." Percy just shrugged it off, as if he was completely unaware of any sort of problem with what he was saying. "You were out cold. You must have swallowed like a whole _fish tank's_ worth of water." He seemed to hiss out the words 'fish tank', as if he was vehemently opposed to such a thing and judging by his reaction to Annabeth's mention of a marine animal rescue facility when they met, she wouldn't doubt it in the slightest. "I was lucky that I could learn it at all, to be honest. It's not like I have many sources for practicing human rescue procedures."

"CPR," she pressed, her voice cracking slightly. His green eyes narrowed as he seemed to try and understand what she was rambling on about. "You gave _me_ CPR while I was unconscious?"

"Would you have rather drowned," he asked impatiently, as if he was taking personal offense to her confusion. "If that's the case, I can, like, ignore you next time. I don't have to pick you up out of the water and haul you up on the most deserted part of the beach I know. I can tell when my services are not wanted."

"No, no, no." Annabeth shook her head and absently pulled on her face with her hands, smelling a faint trace of salt on her hands and arms. "I mean, I'm... _grateful_ and all," she paused, trying to find some sort of way to connect what she was thinking right now into words. "It's just that I have a..." The girl stopped, sighed and tried again, giving her rescuer a very stressed look. "I have a seafood allergy," she said at last, as if it explained everything in the world to him.

Percy remained silent for a few minutes, his green eyes void of emotion. He eventually blinked a few times and flicked his tail, as if he was trying to think. He then rubbed his arms as if they were cold and gave the blond a baffled look. "You...have a seafood allergy," he asked, his voice stating loud and clear that he had not the faintest idea of what she was saying.

Annabeth just nodded and drummed her fingers on her thighs, her shins and feet falling asleep under her weight. "A seafood allergy," she repeated. Her grey eyes lifted to his own eyes, her gaze holding tight to a pleading sort of tone that she hoped would make him understand what she was saying. "I-I can't eat fish or else my throat swells up and I could..." she stopped herself, her eyes shutting for a moment before she opened them again. "I-I don't know if merb—" she stopped herself yet again, this time picking apart her words and fixing them to avoid any problems. "I don't know if mermen fall under seafood allergies."

"You...can't eat fish," Percy asked hesitantly, as if he was nervous to ask her in the first place. Annabeth looked at his face to find his eyes shining brightly and his lips pulled back into a beaming smile. She stared at him in confusion for a moment before she slipped an awkward laugh into the empty space around them. "You can't eat _any_ fish from the ocean, even if you wanted to?"

"No," she chuckled. For some reason, the look on his face made her feel a little less confused and a little more amused. "I can't eat any of the fish out there."

"I knew you were a good one from the minute I saw you," he blurted. He froze for a moment as both teenagers's faces lit up with a healthy amount of color. Percy shook it off relatively quickly and started talking again. "When you helped me free Rainbow from that little cranny over there and return him to the water, I could kinda tell that you were different than most of the people that come here." He took a deep breath and suddenly he was rubbing his left shoulder as if it were in pain. "I mean, I kinda wasn't _supposed_ to and I kinda didn't _want_ to, but I did."

"Rainbow?" Annabeth found herself smirking as her mind connected the name to the dolphin that they had rescued together. "His name is Rainbow?"

Percy's cheeks lit up again, but he shook off his embarrassment with dignity. "Yeah, it is. They all have names, you know. It's my job to remember them all; they're kinda like my friends and all." His green eyes churned with warmth for a moment before he looked back to the blond across from him. "They take messages from me, to my father and all over, no matter where it needs to be."

"Your father," Annabeth muttered in confusion. Her eyes clouded over for a moment before she lifted her chin and looked Percy in the eye. "Is he a merman like you, then?" The black-haired boy noticeably stiffened at her words and took in a sharp breath through his teeth. The blond narrowed her eyes in questioning before continuing, "I mean, I would assume that you would get a tail like that from _somewhere_."

The boy looked at the ocean over his shoulder for a moment, as if he was contemplating something. His eyes flickered with a bit of hesitation before he closed them with a sigh and shook his head. He turned back to the girl with a flame of determination in his eyes, showing clearly that he had made up his mind. "I've never really told this to anyone," he began, "Because I'm not really supposed to." His mouth curved up into a half-smile and Annabeth caught herself thinking that this boy smiled more than she's ever seen _anyone_ smile before—and she's met some really airheaded people before, believe her. "But you seem a lot different than the other people that come here," he admitted.

"Look," he started, his left hand lifting to his face so he could push his hair away as it curled slightly and puffed up from finally drying out. "The truth is, my father is Poseidon." He held his breath as Annabeth sort of just blinked at him, her mind slowly whirling and confirming to her shocked ears that yes, he had really just said that.

Normally, she would have counted him as crazy and just walked away with her hands in the air, giving up on trying to make sense of the person's insanity. However judging by his tail and the fact that she was literally talking to a merbo—excuse her, merman—at the moment, she was going to take that as fact. Or she was dead after drowning in the ocean just to go and see some dumb lighthouse. It was still a very faint possibility in her mind right now.

"So," she paused, trying to find a way to speak without being utterly disrespectful. "You're telling me that you're father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the oceans?" Percy nodded and suddenly the name Perseus made a bit more sense, if only for the Greek mythology connection. "Right..." She looked at the water behind him and admired the deep green tint it was claiming today before looking back at his eyes, which were looking more and more like the ocean with every glance she took. "So you live under the water right? Or do you live in some sort of temple?"

"No, I live under there," Percy explained. "He's the god of the ocean and I help him out." He smiled a bit brighter at this, as if he was proud of that fact. "I take care of the animals and fish that call the ocean home, I make sure that no one's polluting the water with their trash or lost lunch and make sure that everything is how its supposed to be." Annabeth blushed a bit at the mention of lost lunch, as it suddenly dawned on her that he might have been following her—probably to make sure she didn't puke in his front yard, as he was saying.

"Are there other Greek gods around that I should know about, or is your father a special case?" Percy gave her an odd look before sadly shaking his head and dipping his chin.

"Only my uncles," he muttered. "There used to be so many more, from what my father told me. Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and so many others," he stopped and took a deep breath, his green eyes slowly growing stormy as the ocean had a few weeks prior. "Then people stopped believing in them and thinking about them. Knocked them all down as stories. The only reason my father and his brothers are still around is because that people remember them, though not entirely as gods. Some day," he sighed with a sorrowful tone, "Some day they might disappear too."

Annabeth felt a pang of sympathy in her chest. Worrying about such a thing as how long your own family would survive sounded like a horrible thing to have on your mind. She slowly gave Percy a sad smile before the boy shook his head and looked back at her.

"What about your family," he asked. "I mean, now that you know about my father and all..." He stopped and nervously flicked his tail, sending a few droplets of water flying behind him from his tail. "I bet your family has some sort of connection to the ocean, right?" His eyes suddenly brightened again, as if he was excited. "You didn't hesitate to help Rainbow when he was stuck. Most humans would have either ignored him and thought someone else would have helped him or just called some people to come and get him."

The girl shook her head. "Sorry, my family's very happy on dry land." His eyes narrowed in slight disappointment, but he listened anyway. "My mother Athena used to be the mayor and—" Abruptly Percy's eyes widened and he slammed his tail on the surface of the water as if he was startled.

"Wait," he shouted. "Your mother's Athena?" His eyes looked wild with both confusion and hope, making Annabeth feel slightly guilty about what she had just said. Of course he would have gotten excited by that. He just said that the Greek gods were mostly dead. Why wouldn't he jump to such a conclusion? "Then you're a demigod too, right?"

"Sorry," she sighed as he froze in place. "Her _name_ is Athena. She not actually..." The blond hesitated before giving Percy an apologetic glance. "She's not actually the Greek goddess Athena." The black-haired boy dipped his head before slowly nodding in response, as if sadly accepting what she had said. Annabeth then narrowed her eyes and gave the boy a questioning glance. "But, demigods? What did you mean by—" She stopped herself as she quickly remembered what exactly demigods were. They were the offspring of gods and mortals in all of those ancient tales. If that were the case, that would imply that Percy was a—

"I'm a demigod," he admitted just as her brain was coming to the same conclusion. His gaze dropped to his hands as he absently wove his fingers together and pulled them apart one by one. "My mother is a human, like you." His eyes gained a sort of fog to them, but it was warm with happy memories. "She visits during the summer from Manhattan. She used to live around here a while ago, but then she got a really great job in the city and she's been visiting every since."

"She...sounds very nice," Annabeth offered awkwardly, her head suddenly hurting from her trip underwater. As her clothes stuck to her skin and itched with the remains of salt, her mind stalled and tried to find something to say. She had a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something and she wanted to figure out the cause of it as soon as possible. Her brain offered her a hazy picture of the day they had rescued Rainbow the dolphin and suddenly she was picking at the lingering scab of an unanswered question.

"You cut your hand on my knife," she blurted. The boy looked up from his own thoughts to find the blond rubbing her cheek with her right hand, her complexion paler than usual. "When we first met, you tried to take my pocket knife by the blade and you cut yourself on it." She lifted her grey eyes to meet his and narrowed them slightly in thought. "Are you always a Seaweed Brain like that, or was that an accident?"

Percy bit his lip to hold back a bitter retort before exhaling and rubbing his nose on his hand absently. "No," he responded a bit sharply, "I am not a Seaweed Brain, as I have mentioned earlier." He took another breath before smiling a bit. "I'm really not used to being hurt by things. All the sharp things I own can't hurt me and I usually don't even have to worry about a wound because I heal so fast."

"Heal," Annabeth echoed, confusion lingering in the air.

The black-haired demigod nodded. "Heal," he repeated. "Since I'm Poseidon's son, the water heals any injuries I have for the most part. Unless I'm freaking out and panicking, the water just wraps around the open wound and gives it a good squeeze before it's suddenly gone and not a trace is left." He looked at his tail for a moment before looking back at the girl in front of him. "I kinda forgot about it in the heat of the moment and I ended up healing without really wanting to." He chuckled at the memory before shaking his head. "I was kinda shocked that you noticed it at the time, actually. People don't normally see me bleed, like, at all. Or just don't see me."

A cool feeling enveloped the blond as she finally had an answer to something she had dubbed impossible. She finally had an answer that made at least a shred of sense in context of what happened the past month of her summer vacation. A weight lifted from her shoulders at the thought. Taking this as a good sign, her mind reminded her of another inconsistency and prompted her to find the cause behind it as well. "I also noticed that you had legs then," Annabeth pointed out. Percy gave his tail a quick glance that almost seemed accusatory before looking back at her and nodding reluctantly.

"That was the mist," he chuckled. When Annabeth just stared at him as she tried to figure out what he was talking about, he filled her in with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "It's this thing that hides magical and unusual things from people like you," he explained. "It takes the extraordinary and makes their eyes see it as something ordinary, something that they can understand and explain." He paused before adding with an amused smile, "You'd be surprised what great lengths people will go through to avoid finding something that doesn't make sense. I once popped out of the water on the back of a very confused shark who had hurt himself on a passing cargo ship and all the beachgoers saw was a breaching whale." He laughed at his and shook his head in disapproval. "Whales don't even like coming this close to the shore. It's too crowded and noisy to focus."

Annabeth found herself laughing at the mental image of Percy clinging to a very distressed shark while the people on the shoreline started taking out their phones and tried to take pictures of what they thought was a whale close to shore. Despite how crazy everything sounded, it was better than having nothing to explain it. Besides, she highly doubted that he would lie to her even though they had only met a total of three times including today. There was just something about the way he was talking to her and the things he said that made it seem like it would be pointless for him to lie. She smiled at the demigod before slowly rising to her feet and stretching her arms over her head.

"I should try and catch up to my friends," she explained as her arms fell back down to her sides. Percy's face quickly fell into disappointment as he watched her carefully fix her half-dry shirt and brush off the sand from the knees of her jeans. "They're probably worried about me since I never managed to catch up with them at the lighthouse like I said I would."

As if her words were a cue, someone started calling out her name. Annabeth looked over her shoulder to see a familiar face running mindlessly in her direction, hands cupped over her mouth and yelling her name in a frantic sort of manner. It would make sense that they would send Thalia to try and find her; the girl wasn't just the best swimmer, but she was also the fastest runner out of their whole group. The blond looked back to the boy only to find him gone with a ripple right were his tail was seconds ago. A drop of disappointment fell to her stomach before she dashed out of the small corner of the beach and started heading towards Thalia.

Thalia lowered her hands just in time to find Annabeth Chase wandering out from a very small path on the edge of the sand, her clothes crinkled and shriveled from drying out awkwardly in the open air. The girl's bright blue eyes widened considerably before she ran full speed for the missing individual.

"Annabeth," she nearly sobbed, her eyes wild with panic. Thalia grabbed the girl's shoulders as soon as Annabeth stopped in front of her and abruptly her worried face caught a slight flame of indignation. "Where in the world were you," she asked in a frenzy. "We were waiting for you at the lighthouse and when your boat got there, you weren't even on it! Luke and Grover are still looking for you on the other side of the beach and we were _this_ close to contacting the police and reporting you as missing!"

Annabeth's cheeks brightened as shame flashed through her. She should have spent less time talking and more times trying to find them. She could only imagine the chaos that her disappearance had caused. She was just about to open her mouth and try and come up with sort explanation that would _not_ make her sound crazy when someone else came running up behind them.

"Annabeth," the voice called, prompting the two girls to turn around and try to find the source of the sound. To the surprise of both girls, a boy with wet black hair and green eyes in a simple blue tee-shirt and jeans was running up to them with a ballcap in his hands. The blond nearly felt her heart burst as she realized that she hadn't even noticed it was gone. Turns out that she was reckless a little too much today. The boy stopped right beside Annabeth with a smile on his face, his bright eyes shining with humor.

"You forgot your hat," Percy chuckled. Thalia let go of Annabeth's shoulders and the blond girl took her hat and nervously thanked him, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the situation. Her eyes caught a quick glance of him smiling at her, but it was gone almost instantly. He looked to the confused Thalia before nodding slowly, as if he was just now figuring things out.

"You must be one of Annabeth's friends then," he said calmly. The baffled girl just nodded very slowly, looking him up and down. It was very clear from her gaze that she was seriously confused as to not only who he was, but how he knew her best friend. "I'm Percy," he announced, holding out a hand for her to shake as if he's done this every day of his life—which he hadn't. "Percy Jackson." Annabeth raised her eyebrow for a moment before just shaking it off with a sigh. She was starting to think that questioning this boy was only going to give her more and more questions, not answers.

"Thalia Grace," she offered, cautiously taking his hand and giving it a shake. She then turned her eyes back to Annabeth and raised an eyebrow. "You mind telling me how you two know each other," she asked. "I'm gonna be honest and say I have no idea what's going on here." The blond opened her mouth to speak but Percy cut her off, the flicker of humor in his eyes now a bright flame.

"Annabeth was on that boat you were talking about when she fell off. I was swimming nearby and I brought her back to shore. She passed out when she was underwater." He smiled as Thalia's eyes widened. "She's alright now, though. I gave her some CPR and she woke up after she coughed up a bit of saltwater." Thalia looked to Annabeth only to be met with a confirming nod. Percy's alibi was all they could offer her; a story about him being a tailed son of Poseidon wouldn't go over well.

"We should get going back to the others. I told them to hold off on calling in until I got back." Annabeth nodded at her before Thalia turned around and started leading the way back to their group. Annabeth started to slowly follow her before looking back over her shoulder and giving Percy a thankful smile.

"Thanks," she whispered. The black-haired boy just nodded happily and gave her a curt wave goodbye before slowly stepping backwards and returning the way he came. He was just about to disappear out of sight when Thalia spun around and suddenly called him back over.

"Percy," she shouted. The boy stood still and gave them both a very shocked expression. The girl blinked her blue eyes in thought before shaking off her hesitation and giving him a smile. "Why don't you come with us? I think you'd do a better job at explaining what happened than I could." Percy paused for a few minuted before eagerly nodding his head and trotting back up to them, only slowing down when he was in step with Annabeth.

The girl gave him a confused look as they walked behind Thalia, trying to look past the obvious signs that he thought that the whole thing was kinda funny in some way, shape or form. "I thought you have a tail," she hissed under her breath. "How exactly are you walking right now?"

"It's only a tail when its wet," he explained. His green eyes narrowed with a smirk as he cast a quick glance to the ocean. "My father had to meet my mother somehow, after all." Annabeth tried not to laugh at the way he was raising his eyebrows at his comment, even when Thalia gave them a few baffled looks over her shoulder.

α

The next time the group rode a boat out to the lighthouse, they made sure that everyone was on the same boat and seated right next to each other. When another rough wave gave the motorboat enough momentum to launch out of the water with a sharp buck to the right, everyone, including Percy Jackson, made sure that Annabeth Chase didn't go sailing off the side again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes the original three part storyline! After this point are the chapters that I added on for the second arc. Thanks for reading, and special thanks to the people who read this story again after reading it the first time on FF! It makes me super happy to hear that people not only remembered it, but liked it enough to read it again all these years later!
> 
> Original Author's Note:  
>  _Author's Note: And this is the last chapter. I really thank each and every one of you for reading my first Percy Jackson and the Olympians fiction! I know it's kinda silly, but what's the harm in a little fluff every once in a while? :D After I read more of the series, you can be sure to see me around here again. Who knows? I might just show up a bit earlier with another fluffy fic or a silly oneshot! I'm kinda known for my fluff._
> 
> _I decided to keep Percy as a demigod for this to kinda swap how things were in the first book. He had to go through a few crash courses at Camp Half-Blood to find out about being a demigod, so I'll cut the kid a break for once. I'm also guilty of joking around and saying Percy was a mermaid, which is actually how this fic came to be. Although, he is most certainly not a mermaid, as he would tell you. He is a merman! (Blame the fish for his childish insistence. They never go to Percy for help even when he's way less busy than his father is. Poor kid just wants some recognition!)_
> 
> _Also I put little alpha symbols instead of linebreaks because it looked really cluttered for some reason with the lines. :U  
>  I chose it because it's a cute little a that's all fancy! At least, that's what I always think when I see it. Also I'm a huge Pokemon nerd and Alpha Sapphire is the game that deals with the oceans rather than the land. (But I swear it's not the main or only reason behind it, promise!)_
> 
> _If this receives enough support, I'll either make a few more chapters or some sequel oneshots. I will also have a poll on my page where you can cast your vote for either wanting more chapters or some oneshots that follow this story, so be sure to check that out. Let me know if you guys are interested in more!_
> 
> _Thank you all so much for reading!_


	4. Percy Has His First Taste of Childhood

_In which Percy gets his first taste of childhood._

Despite Percy's origins, he knew a surprising amount about humans. Annabeth felt a little dumb thinking that he might be clueless about the entire thing, but she never really met a demigod before that summer. The son of Poseidon knew quite a bit about general activities, habits and behaviors, so he wasn't as awkward as some cartoon portrayals of, excuse the pun, other fish out of water were. He acted just as if he had been on land his entire life—excluding that one minor trip over a caution cone and his embarrassed admittance that he had forgotten to tie his shoes. He melted right in with the other teenagers of their seaside city and soon he was a normal part of Luke's little group.

It had been a little over a week and a half since Percy had taken his first steps out of water. The five teenagers were simply relaxing at the beach again, as it seemed that Luke had silently declared it their headquarters of sorts for the summer. Annabeth didn't exact mind it any longer. Percy could easy join in on their activities while still returning to the ocean every night, therefore keeping up with his vague duties and still being able to hang out with land dwelling humans.

It was wonderful weather for a Wednesday. The skies were clear and painted a vibrant blue, the traffic on the streets was surprisingly lower than average and the noise was at a tolerable level. It might have been a picturesque day for an outdoor activity, but Luke had other ideas. Instead he was more interested in competing in an age-old tradition of the four at the arcade, a fight so legendary and sacred that it was inexcusable to skip it.

It was time to face off in a Dance Dance Revolution challenge.

Living in the ocean for all of his life and having most of his knowledge of humans based from either observation on the beach or the minimal lessons from his parents, Percy honestly had no clue what sort of revolution a person could create against their governing body by dancing. However Annabeth was quick to explain that it was simply a game and suddenly the world made sense again. Still, the next time some foolish sea creatures tried to revolt against Poseidon, he would be impressed to see them dancing in their futile attempts of battle. It would make things less boring, he supposed.

The group was on their way to the arcade in a matter of minutes, walking down the sidewalk in an orderly two-by-two line, with Grover wobbling along between Luke, Thalia, Annabeth and Percy. Luke seemed to be talking to Thalia about what sort of playlist they would be using that day, while the girl was shaking her head and telling him that he always picked the same music and that they should leave it up to random. With Percy and Annabeth taking up the rear, the demigod had a chance to get a bit of information on where they were going.

"So...we're going to an arcade," he asked, his green eyes locked on the girl's serene expression. "That's the place where you go and play games, right?"

"Exactly," Annabeth confirmed. "The arcade is a building with these machines with little screens on them. You put a coin in and it lets you play a video game for a certain amount of time or until you lose." Her grey eyes looked at him as she frowned slightly. "It's a little hard to explain, but it'll make more sense when you get there."

Percy nodded. "As long as it's not too noisy there," he muttered. "I never realized how loud it was out of the water." Annabeth smiled a bit and he grinned back, suddenly realizing that she thought it was funny. "I mean," he went on, "My father was right. You humans have _really_ big mouths." She gave him a light push on the arm and he just stumbled back in line next to her as they approached the final crosswalk. "It's like you never shut up or something. Fish are better than you noisy lot. They only speak when they have something very important to say to you." His nose crinkled just as the light changed, telling them to cross. "Either that or when they want you to move out of their way," he grumbled. He walked along as the cars waited patiently for the five to pass in front of them.

"You know what," he asked, suddenly a bit louder. "I totally take it back. Fish are _not_ better than humans." Annabeth tried not to laugh at his crinkled eyebrows and tight face of displeasure. "They are rude and bossy and silent unless they want something from you. Humans are better than fish."

"Okay then," Annabeth chuckled. "You just remember that when we walk in the arcade." Percy gave her a confused look but was ultimately cut off by Luke clearing his throat and standing proudly in front of the arcade's doors.

"We've got enough money to play a best two out of three setup this time," he announced. He pointed to his wrist as if he actually was wearing a watch before smiling at his waiting friends. "We'll battle it out two on two and set the playlist to random." Thalia nodded quietly in agreement, pleased with the music not being locked to the same songs as they always were. "The teams will be decided by a coin-flip, so no one can argue about who teams up with who this time."

"Why did you argue," Percy asked Annabeth quietly, as Luke and Grover talked about what he could do while the other four played a game that strictly required not-broken legs.

"I'm the best at Dance Dance Revolution," the blond told him happily. "Luke and Thalia would always fight with each other over who I team up with because whoever I'm with almost always wins."

"What about when you don't win," the black-haired boy questioned, his eyebrow raised in silent respect.

"When I don't win," she grumbled, "It's because the machine glitched and stopped registering my steps."

Percy nodded in understanding. He was about to ask another question when suddenly Luke opened the door and walked inside, leaving him to scramble after them. Immediately the poor demigod was attacked by a rush of sound. He covered his ears and winced as the sounds of screaming children, clattering token dispensers, high octane music and the artificial sounds of the arcade games all merged and twisted in his ears, overwhelming his head with noise. Annabeth stopped beside him and gave him a worried look as Luke walked off to get some tokens.

"Are you okay," she shouted above the clamor. Percy felt like his head was swimming in the ocean during a thunderstorm, but he nodded anyway. He took deep breaths and slowly pulled his hands away from his ears, letting his head slowly adjust to the foreign sounds. They were still nauseatingly loud, but he couldn't exactly walk around with his hands over his ears. Instead he just gritted his teeth and tried to adapt to it.

"I'll be fine," he lied. "It's really loud in here but it's nothing compared to when those sharks found out about those movies you humans made about that one shark that goes around and eats people for no reason." The blond blinked at him as he shrugged. "They were yelling and screaming for days about that. They were pretty offended."

"I'm...sorry," she weakly apologized. "For the record, I never liked those movies either."

Luke then came back to the group with a handful of tokens, smiling at them. "Alright, I've got more than enough coins for the matches and even the tiebreakers if they come up." He looked expectantly at Thalia and she stared at him, raising an eyebrow at him. "Could you hold these please," he asked after a few moments of silence. "I need to flip the coin."

"Oh no you don't," Thalia chuckled. Luke gave her a stern look as she lifted her shoulders and gave him a quick smirk. "Since when have you ever flipped the coin? We agreed long ago that Grover flips the coin to ensure that neither of us decides to cheat."

"But Grover needs to hold on to his crutches so he doesn't fall," he playfully shot back. "I think it's only fair that we give him a break. I'll hold the burden of flipping the coin."

"A coin flip's not going to work," Grover piped up. Both pairs of blue eyes turned to look at him as the teenager leisurely leaned in on his crutches. "You're forgetting that Percy might want to team up with her." He looked back at Percy and lifted an eyebrow. "Would you like to team up with Annabeth," he asked.

"Uh...yeah," Percy responded, a little out of it from the conversation suddenly including him. He raised his voice a little louder when he noticed that everyone was trying to talk above the noise. "I mean, I've never played this game before. It would be nice to team up with Annabeth for it." The blond rocked her head back in forth in pride as both Luke and Thalia blinked at him. Eventually Luke sighed and smiled at them.

"In that case, I guess Percy can team up with her today." Thalia looked a little disappointed that she couldn't team up with Annabeth, but she eventually shrugged it off and nodded in agreement. "I'll go with Thalia and Grover will—"

" _Grover_ will go and play Pac-Man," Grover abruptly announced. He motioned to a game with a blue and black cabinet around it, complete with a giant yellow character chomping on little white circles. "You guys have fun with your little dancing game while I go and try to beat that record on the machine." He took a few coins and started to walk off. "I'll prove to you that I can totally beat that score without cheating."

"You'll never win," Luke called after him as he joined the crowd of children and other teenagers. "The Stoll brothers cheated to get that high of a score! They broke into the cabinet, remember?" The group watched Grover simply wave him off, deposit a token in the machine and start playing. The blond sighed before turning back towards the others. "Well, let's go before someone else gets to the game first," he declared. He then turned towards the center of the arcade and lead the way, Thalia stomping in her heavy boots after him.

Annabeth and Percy walked quietly after them, giving the demigod a chance to take in the bright lights of the other games. A bunch of younger kids seemed really invested in one game and the black-haired boy stopped to take a closer look. Once his eyes focused on the screen he found them shouting eagerly at a bright red car that was making an impossible jump over the ocean and turning in the air, making some numbers appear. Percy found himself in a trance by the screen and he didn't move until Annabeth came back and tugged on his blue shirt.

"Come on," she grumbled. "Everyone is waiting at the game." Percy gave the car that was now falling into the water one last look before reluctantly following after her. They stopped at a giant machine with plenty of bright lights and loud music, something that Percy was still trying to get his brain to wrap around. Two teenagers were bouncing around on a stand in front of the actual machine that was decorated with four arrows, each pointing to a different direction. The two boys, who were basically identical in appearance, quickly jumped around and pressed the buttons with their feet at ridiculous speeds, astonishing the young demigod out of water. When the noises from the game got louder, they switched spots and took the other's spot on the stage, but they stumbled and the machine let out a few painful sounds that Percy somehow knew meant that they had messed up.

"The Stoll brothers," Annabeth told him as he watched them in fascination. "They play this game on occasion too, but they focus too much on being flashy instead of getting points." Abruptly the sounds from the game stopped and they hopped off on the left side, one after the other. One of them gave Luke a quick wave before they walked off towards a table with a low humming noise coming from it and bright red lines painted on it.

"Okay then," Luke spoke up, prompting Annabeth and Percy to get closer. "Thalia and I will go first and then you two can go." He pointed to the screen, which was now displaying a long list of songs to choose from. "We'll all choose the random option and whichever team gets the most points wins." Thalia pulled out a scrap of notebook paper and a pencil from her black jacket and placed them on the machine.

"We can write our scores down on this piece of paper so we don't forget." She gave Luke a quick nod before stepping up to the machine. "Hopefully, we won't get some really slow music. The faster the beat is, the more points you can get, typically anyway." Luke climbed up after her and sat on the red bars that divided the back of the stage from the open space in front of Percy and Annabeth. Thalia stepped on the top arrow a few times before stepping on the space in between all of the arrows. The game made a sort of strumming noise and abruptly music started to play.

"Come on," Annabeth stage-whispered above the noise. "We should get closer to the screen so you can see what happens when you play." They shuffled up to find the screen covered with little arrows that slowly rose up to the top of the screen and lined up with a row of bigger arrows that didn't move. Most of the time they burst apart in the bigger arrows with a flash of color, but sometimes the ones on the far right row would disappear in a flicker of grey and that annoying noise would play again. Whenever that happened, Luke would grumble and stomp the next direction. Percy had a feeling that when that happened, it meant Luke had messed up.

"You step on the arrow that you see on the screen, but only when it's lined up with the guide arrows on the top," Annabeth explained. The black-haired teenager nodded and watched, his eyes flickering from the screen to Luke's frantic feet. "Sometimes two arrows will show up at the same time, and that means you have to press them at the same time." Just as she said that, Thalia and Luke jumped up and stomped down on the right and left buttons at the same time. Percy nodded again and kept track of what she was saying in the back of his mind. The blond looked up at the screen and pointed out a left arrow with a faint line following it. "If an arrow looks like this," she continued, "That means that you have to hold that button down until the end of the line reaches the top row." The three other nodded and the action was quickly carried out, leaving a long note and some indistinguishable vocals to garble in Percy's ears.

"Uck," Thalia grumbled as she stood in place. "I forgot how annoying this voice is." Luke thought for a moment before twisting his mouth and nodding in agreement. The duo stood still for a few more moments before they sprung back into action and started hitting double notes in quick succession. Annabeth's grey eyes focused on the growing numbers in the center of the two guide arrows, while Percy's green eyes voted on staring at the floating arrows in the flashing colors. They were more interesting than the white numbers that kept spinning around.

Eventually the song ended and Luke climbed down from the stage, breathing heavily and trying to fill his lungs again. When Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk, he just shook his head and pointed at the screen. "They left it on Ultra Hard," he explained between gasps. The blond girl nodded and Luke retreated to a row of four plastic water bottles that Percy hadn't noticed before. Luke's feet dug into the carpet as he picked up a bottle, uncapped it and guzzled the water down. Thalia however hummed the song they had just played as she carefully copied their score down on the paper before stopping with a scowl and writing the last digit. She then climbed down and reached for a bottle as well, her bright blue eyes on the two who hadn't played yet.

"Your turn," she announced as she tore off the lid. "Good luck on getting a song that's not as annoying as ours was." Annabeth just chuckled and Percy smiled, already climbing on the stage. Annabeth climbed up after him before quickly switching places with him and explaining that the person in left spot was the one controlling it. The boy just nodded and rocked back and forth on his heels as the girl selected the random option and started the game.

Percy snapped to attention the second the music started to play. His eyes became locked on the screen as the white arrows at the top of the screen flashed with a beat before they grew still. He could faintly hear Thalia and Luke giving him words of encouragement from the sidelines. "Don't look at your feet," Thalia said. "Only look at the screen. You don't have to land on the arrows exactly for it to count; the buttons are pretty big."

"Don't trip and fall into the machine," Luke added.

Percy gave the two a glance to see Thalia giving the blond boy a punch on the arm. "Really? Percy's not that clumsy, Luke!"

Luke just shrugged. "Reminding him can't hurt."

Percy took a deep breath and focused on the screen again. It was nice to know that Luke thought that he was so clumsy. Granted, he had only been using his legs consistently for less than two weeks, but he wasn't _that_ bad. He seemed to have better balance than Grover.

Annabeth seemed to brace herself out of the corner of his eyes. Immediately after Percy took note, the arrows started to fill the screen. His eyes widened. They were nearly a cascading wall of bright flashing lights and he had to make sure to hit every single one. The boy gulped. Well, if he wasn't shaky with his legs now, they'd be shaking from the strain after this game.

Annabeth was the first to hit the first note, her foot slamming into the board below her with incredible speed. Percy flailed to hit the note after her and started to try and focus his eyes on the top note in the sequence instead of looking at them all at once. It was a Herculean task with so many things blinking and flashing at him, but he tried his best. He did remarkably well for a beginner who was thrown straight into the deep end, but at least Annabeth was scoring points for them with her flawless precision.

Percy could clearly see why the others had been so insistent over the coin flip. Annabeth was carrying their team without breaking a sweat.

Speaking of sweat, Percy was starting to realize that he was sweating far too much. His throat started to feel dry. Who knew that an arcade game could make him feel so tired? He struggled less lifting a shark. He glanced momentarily towards the unopened bottles of water sitting just out of his reach and the machine gave him a squeaking sound of failure for it. His eyes snapped back and he starting jumping up and down in time with the double notes.

Thalia and Luke made it look so easy earlier. Even those twin boys did better than he was at the moment. His stomach churned. He was totally going to make them lose. Even with Annabeth's skill, she couldn't carry him forever. His lower total would bring them down. He needed far more energy to keep up with her and hopefully hit more notes.

There was only one way to get more energy on such short notice.

"I need water," Percy struggled as he held down one foot and stamped the three other keys on his left side in ridiculous intervals. Annabeth glanced at him as she did the same with twice as much grace and composure. She then indirectly looked at Luke.

"Luke," she said quickly, her hands catching herself on the rail behind her as she did a few crisscross maneuvers. "Could you give Percy his bottled water, please? I can't reach it from here."

"Sure thing." He immediately snatched a bottle with Percy's name scrawled upon it in and walked around to Percy's side. The boy with black hair looked beside him as Luke handed it to him with a smile. "Here you go. I pulled the cap off for you. Hope you don't mind."

Percy grabbed it quickly, his center of balance shifting just enough that he missed a note. He pulled back up abruptly and cut the amount of water within by half within a few gulps. All at once, the noisy atmosphere around him faded away into a murmur. The sound of the machine was much louder now and below him, he could feel the board vibrate under his feet. He passed the water back to Luke. "Thanks," he said. "I really needed that."

Luke just nodded. "I'll just watch from here and hold it in case you need it again," he told Percy. "I'd place it on the rim there but it'd probably fall off and short circuit it or something. We've had weirder things happen before."

Luke's words were in one ear and out the other. All of Percy's attention was focused solely on the screen. His heart pounded somewhere behind his ear. He could do this. He could totally beat this game and make them have a great score to lead with in the next round. No one could call Percy dead weight after this.

Well...no one had before either, but he wanted to pull his own weight in this game! He wanted to be a good teammate!

His feet hit their mark with renewed determination and energy. Every note exploded with color as he quickly started stringing a combo. Percy Jackson quickly went from missing every fifth note to not missing a single one. "Hey, good work, Percy," Thalia encouraged from the sidelines. "Now you're getting the hang of it!"

"Yeah, nice combo," Luke said happily.

Annabeth remained silent beside him, but he could sense that she was at least smiling.

Using his natural ability to use water in ways that made him stronger or heal him wasn't cheating if he used it to help him do better in an arcade game, was it? I mean, all he did was use it to make him faster and to give him more energy...and maybe more focus... Totally not cheating, right? Especially when he used said ability to simply keep up with his new friends.

The song ended within a minute or so and Thalia and Luke both clapped at Percy's performance. "You did great, Percy," Thalia cheered. "Good job!" Luke mirrored her words and offered him another drink of water. Percy was about to take it when Annabeth gave him a warm pat on the back. He turned to find her a little breathless, with a dash of pink on her cheeks and a happy smile.

"You did really good for your first time playing this game, Percy," she said as she tried to breathe. "You really learn fast."

As much as Percy liked all the praise, he felt a little embarrassed. "Uh...Thanks?" He pushed some of his hair back before smiling at Annabeth. "You're _amazing_ , Annabeth! Your score was like, double mine for most of the game! No wonder everyone wants you on their team. You're like a dancing secret weapon," he chirped.

Annebeth's face gained a little more color, but her smile grew wider, too. "Thank you, Percy." She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but she closed her mouth with a slight shake of her head. Apparently she couldn't find the words. She then hopped off the machine and started to fix her ponytail, which was now falling over to one side like her hair would spill over if left unattended.

Percy took that as his cue to walk off as well. He took his water from Luke and hesitantly took a sip. A surge of energy filled his veins and eased his tired legs. He should start carrying a water bottle around in case he got tired. While being out of water was fun, he could now actually _feel_ what it was like to be tired. It was a new sensation, but not one he wanted to grow familiar with. He felt like his abilities were halved the second he stepped out of the ocean. _Wonder if that's how dad feels when he leaves the water too_ , Percy thought absently. It would explain why Poseidon never seemed to leave the water. If this is how he felt as a demigod, he couldn't imagine how much worse it would be for the god of the ocean.

Thalia stretched her arms before fixing her shirt and placing her jacket aside. "Looks like it's our turn again, Luke," she said with a grin. "You ready?"

"Hang on a minute." Luke took a drink of his water and walked around to place it next to Annabeth's drink. He then took his place right where Percy had been standing a few moments before. He reached above his head, yawned and glanced back at the girl next to him with a grin, his eyes gleaming. "Okay, now I'm ready."

Annabeth grabbed her water. "Good luck," she said. She then glanced at Percy and stared. He stared back for a few moments before he felt a little awkward.

"...What," Percy asked quietly. "Why are you staring at me?"

"You're supposed to wish them luck, too. It's basically a rule with us."

"Oh." Percy turned back to Thalia and Luke with a smile. "Good luck, guys! Hope you don't get an annoying song!"

Annabeth elbowed him shortly after the words left his mouth. " _Percy_ ," she hissed. "You'll jinx them!"

Luke just laughed as Thalia smiled. "Yeah, I hope so, too," he shot back with a grin. "That's always the struggle with this game, finding a good song to play!"

"That's why we play random," Thalia replied, still smiling as she hovered over the random button. "We'd spend too long otherwise." Her foot pressed the key and soon the two were playing once again, this time with another bouncy pop song with almost indistinguishable lyrics.

"Ugh," Thalia groaned. "Not again!"

Annabeth gave Percy a pointed look. "Told you you'd jinx them."

Percy shrugged as Luke started laughing at Thalia's dramatic complaints about Dance Dance Revolution not supporting iPod connectivity to allow you to play your own playlists. "I didn't know. I was just trying to encourage them."

"I know...but we're always jinxing each other like that, though. It's become something to expect. That's why we just refrain from saying it," she said.

After around five minutes or so, Thalia and Luke's turn came to an end. Thalia pulled out a small notebook Percy hadn't noticed before and scribbled down their score. She then turned to Luke, who then walked over to Annabeth and grabbed a calculator from her backpack. He presented it to the girl with blue eyes as she then added up the numbers. Thalia then proceed to say a number that was large enough to make his head spin. He didn't even realize the scores could _go_ that high. How could he and Annabeth beat a score like that?

Luke smiled. "Not bad for getting annoying pop songs, right Thalia?"

The girl gave him a reluctant smile as she hopped off the board. "I guess so. I still wish that I could use my own music, though."

Annabeth gave Percy a careful nudge. "It's our turn again," she told him. "Are you ready? I'll wait a few minutes if you need more to drink first."

Percy gave his nearly empty bottle of water careful consideration before turning his green eyes back to his friend. "Well, I think I'm ready. My water is almost gone, anyway." He glanced around, looking for the place their bottles had been before. "Um...where did this come from, again?"

Thalia stepped towards him. "I've got it, Percy. You go ahead and take your turn."

He flashed her a smile and handed her his water bottle. "Thanks, Thalia," he chirped. Percy climbed up to his second player slot and waited for Annabeth to take the controls. She took a final drink of water and took her place beside him.

Annabeth absently pulled her ponytail tighter as she pressed the random button. The game lulled into silence before the next song slowly started. Percy lifted his head. He knew this song. He actually _knew_ this song! Of all the songs on this game, a song that he was actually familiar with was on the list. Maybe that would make him play better, since he knew the song and could expect the beat.

"I know this one," he exclaimed excitedly.

Annabeth simply nodded. She seemed to enter a completely different plane of existence when the game started. Percy knew what it was. She was hyperfocusing. He was prone to doing so on occasion. It was nice to know that she did, too. It made him feel like he had more in common with her, even if she was a human and he was a demigod.

" _Beethoven's Symphony Number Five_ is pretty well known," Thalia said. "It's probably one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music. Ask pretty much anyone and they've probably heard it."

Luke gave her a sly sidelong glance. "I didn't know you liked classical music, Thalia. I thought you were more alternative...rock...er...whatever genre you listen to." His face looked a lot less sly and far more bashful by the time he finished speaking.

Thalia just shrugged. "A little symphony never hurt anyone. Though my personal favorite will always be _Mozart's Symphony Number Forty-One._ Can't go wrong with that one."

Percy bit his lip. That sounded familiar. He didn't exactly know why, though. His brain was _definitely_ telling him that the name meant something to him, but he wasn't sure _what_. Man, he wished his memory recall would help him out a bit. What's the point of remembering things if you only remember _parts_ of them?

He didn't have time to dwell on it, though. The notes were rising to the arrows already. He needed to focus and do his best so that they could beat Thalia and Luke. He wasn't going to hold Annabeth back.

The song was abridged to a more reasonable length, but even then it was longer than the song Luke and Thalia had played. Percy's feet moved in near sync with Annabeth. He wasn't paying attention to her now. His eyes were glued to the screen. His mind went into focus. _Left, left, right, down, up, up, down, right, left..._ His brain cycled from direction to direction, telling him each note and which one to prepare for. The demigod's mind always looked at what was ahead, not what he was facing now. Look at the note that is next. Prepare for it. Stomp it until it burst into color. Rinse. Repeat.

The song ended with Percy in a trance, his attention still focused on the screen. He couldn't even hear the people around him. He just looked at his score on the screen. It was in the thousands...tens of thousands? His eyes kept switching where the numbers were and where the zeros of unoccupied place values were. Where did his score end?

A light touch on his shoulder made Percy jump and nearly fall off the board. Only a quick grab of the railing and Annabeth grabbing his arm could save him from hitting his head on the arcade floor. Annabeth's grey eyes melted with worry.

"Percy," she said anxiously, as if she were repeating herself. "Are you okay? You spaced out on us. The game's over. Thalia is adding up our scores.'

Percy gave her a blank look before shaking his head. "...Yeah. I'm okay. I just...got _really_ focused I guess. I wanted to do my best."

Luke gave him a sympathetic look from over Annabeth's shoulder. "Hyperfocus? We're all guilty of it. It's actually how we all met..."

His reminiscing was cut abruptly by Annabeth pulling Percy away from the game and handing him his water bottle. "You should have a drink," she told him. "You're sweating again."

Luke stopped talking and gave Percy a once over. "Yikes. You look like Grover during Gym class. Your hair even looks wet, Percy."

"Thanks," Percy replied sarcastically. He took his water and swiftly gulped the remaining amount down. _Man, I really hope sweat doesn't count towards being wet. I'd hate to get a tail in the middle of the arcade_ , Percy thought with a shudder. He could see it now. Percy Jackson, the first ever human to spontaneously grow a tail after playing Dance Dance Revolution. At least, that's how mortals would see it. They'd probably start an intensive investigation to find if the game had any further side effects. Mortals tested everything. That's what his father told him, anyway. They could never accept things as they were.

He clenched his plastic bottle until it cracked and popped. He made a mental note to buy all of his new friends reusable water bottles so that they wouldn't use plastic anymore. He was constantly destroying plastic in the ocean. It was exhausting work. He didn't need to worry about any further garbage getting in there.

His mind drifted back to reality just as Thalia smiled at them. "The scores have been tallied. The results are now in!"

Luke frowned. "Hey, I wanted to do the score reveal! Making an announcer voice is my favorite part of the results!"

"You always do the score reveal," Thalia told him plainly. "It's my turn."

"Fine..."

She then looked back at Annabeth and Percy with a grin. "And our totals are..."

Percy's breath caught in his throat. Thalia and Luke's score was positively intimidating. Was that over a _million_? There was no way you could have a score over a million in a game of Dance Dance Revolution, right? He _had_ to have heard wrong.

Then Thalia told them the score that he and Annabeth had earned.

His heart sank. That number was _definitely_ not a million. They lost. He tried so hard too. He ended up holding Annabeth back. Now that was the first loss she'd ever had, not including technical failure. He couldn't imagine how disappointed she must feel...

"You did great, Percy," Annabeth said as she gave him a pat on the back. "You're a great partner. With a little practice, I'm sure you can beat even Luke's score!"

Percy looked over at her in awe, his green eyes as wide as a tide pool. "Wait...aren't you upset that you lost? You said you never lose."

"Nah. I had a lot of fun today," she said with a smile. "Having you play DDR with us was great! I hope you can play again next month."

Luke grinned. "Absolutely! You really learn fast! That score was really good. It was _way_ better than _Thalia's_ first score."

The girl with blue eyes slowly turned her head towards her friend as if she were plotting revenge already. " _Excuse you_? Don't you mean _your_ first score? You hardly hit the hundred-thousand mark," she shot back.

"Nah, that's totally your first score, Thalia. Mine was _flawless_."

Annabeth just laughed as Thalia and Luke playfully began to argue over who was worse at the dancing arcade game when they had first played it. Percy couldn't help but smile with them. He might not have been there to witness it, but their jovial energy was infectious.

Annabeth gathered their things into her backpack, swung it over her shoulder and tapped both Thalia and Luke on the shoulder. Two pairs of blue eyes turned to face her. "Hey, we'd better get going. It's getting late and I'm certain our parents will want us home for dinner soon."

Luke and Thalia exchanged a glance before they both nodded. "Alright then, I guess it's time to go, then," Luke sighed. "We'd better go get Grover."

The group started for the exit, leaving Percy to quickly catch up and fall in step with his new friends. "You don't think Grover's been playing Pac-Man the entire time, do you," Thalia asked. "You know how obsessive he can get over that game."

They stopped when they reached the blue and yellow game cabinet. Luke chuckled. "Oh yeah, he's _still_ there."

Grover was staring at the screen with a fevered look in his eyes. The joystick moved with a loud clack with every turn he made in the game. A few kids gave him an odd look when they passed, mostly because Grover was _totally_ muttering under his breath what direction he was moving in next and which ghost was getting too close for comfort.

They carefully moved towards him. "Grover," Annabeth called gently. "Grover, it's time to go home."

"Can't. Must. Beat. High Score." Grover's voice was shaking. He sounded like his mouth had gone dry somewhere as he was playing.

"Underwood, it's time to go. You're not anywhere near beating the Stoll's high score, anyway. It would take you reaching the death screen and _beyond_ to get even _close_ to that number," Luke chided. "Come on. We have to... Where are your crutches?"

"Floor. Lost them in the battle against Blinky a few levels back. Worth it," Grover explained, his voice hoarse and monotone.

Thalia picked them up and gave them back to Grover, much to his protest. "Come on, Grover! We need to go!"

Luke shook his head and looked back at Annabeth and Percy. "How many tokens does he have left? They should run out soon."

True to his word, the game clicked out and displayed a continue screen. Grover screamed under his breath before dejectedly turning away from the game. "...Got any tokens," he asked hopefully.

Percy shook his head. "Nope. All gone."

Grover sighed and reluctantly walked away from the Pac-Man cabinet. He gave the screen one last look as it flicked back to the title screen. He then looked back at his friends. "Okay then, let's go."

Luke grinned. "Alright. Everyone got everything?"

"One calculator, one pencil, one notepad, four water bottles and a backpack. We've got everything," Annabeth informed them.

Thalia gave them a smile before leading the way towards the door. "Then let's go, shall we?"

The group of five walked down the street, the sky still bright and the air warm around them. Percy craned his neck and stared out into the ocean. The beach was more crowded now than it had been when they went in the arcade. It would be harder to slip in the water undetected. He _especially_ had to watch out for that new lifeguard. He'd already pulled him out of the water once, thinking he had been underwater far too long. That lifeguard was now his new enemy. He was his sole opponent standing in the way of him making a simple getaway into freedom's loving embrace—

He was reeled back in when Annabeth tapped him on the arm. "Why are you scowling at the water, Seaweed Brain," she asked teasingly.

"No reason," he answered immediately. He then looked towards her with a fleeting glance at the others ahead of them. "I need to go."

"Okay," she said sadly. "You'll hang out with us again tomorrow, right?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it," he chuckled.

Percy then made a show out of stretching his arms over his head and yawning. "Man, I'm beat! Who knew a game about dancing could take so much out of you?" The other stopped and stared at him, listening to their friend. "Well, I'd love to walk back with you guys but I've gotta go."

"Right," Thalia said. "You live over in that housing development over by the ocean. That's in the opposite direction of where we're going. Guess it does make sense for you to split off."

Luke gave him a smile and a pat on the back. "Thanks for hanging out with us today. It was really fun! You're coming back tomorrow, right?"

"Totally," Percy said with a smile. "I'll meet you guys on the beach again around noon."

"Sounds good," Grover told him. "We're probably going out for lunch tomorrow. They want burgers or something. _I_ however, am looking forward to that new salad that burger place has. Heard it has avocado in it."

Percy gave them all a grin. "Sounds like a perfect plan! I'll be sure to bring my appetite." He then carefully started to walk away. "See you tomorrow," he said, that grin still on his face. He waved goodbye until they finally turned around and headed deeper into the city.

Percy watched them walk away for a few minutes before he took a deep breath and walked towards his hidden path to the beach. He ducked past the rocks, passed the small space near the tide pools where he had met Annabeth and paused at the very place he had pulled her out of the water when she nearly drowned.

This was his beach. He was safe from prying eyes here. No one would know if he jumped in the water here, not even that pesky lifeguard. He brushed off his blue and white striped shirt before taking a running dive towards the water. Instead of hitting his head on the sand as any human would, the water gushed off the shore to meet him halfway and encased him in water. A fresh wave of energy and clarity rippled through him, giving relief to his aching arms and legs after an afternoon above the water's surface.

Percy kicked his legs together and dove deeper, feeling them contract and merge into a single agile tail. He moved faster now, which let him carry on until he reached the shark net. The hole he had made in the center of the beach had since been repaired, but that didn't affect him here. There was a space in the net that was easily passed through by someone of his size. All he had to do was squeeze through the space he had carefully cut through two nets. The demigod pushed through and then made a break for it into the deepest depths of the ocean.

He swam for several miles, passing through small schools of fish and diving deeper to make absolutely sure that he wouldn't be seen by any of the small boats on the waves above. He passed the lighthouse and carried on, swimming a path that had been memorized long ago.

He swam until he could see a faint shimmer of his home, the magnificence of pearls and abalone shells woven in with sea stone nearly blinding under the rippling light. The sound of chattering reached his ears as he could finally hear the dolphins talking among each other within the city. Percy spun a few corkscrews before plunging through the open gates and disappearing within the gleaming castle hidden behind the veil of the Mist and the sweet embrace of the ocean's darkest depths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally conceived as a one-shot continuation but it eventually became the start of a second arc. Next chapter marks the last one I have finished, and the last chapter of the originally published pieces. Thanks so much for reading! If these last two chapters in particular get enough comments/interest, I'll dust of the unfinished chapter and upload it as well. I have two other projects ongoing that are a higher priority (Morose Mystery and another fic that hilariously also has the MM abbreviation, both being in the Toilet Bound Hanako-kun fandom, no I'm not quite sure how I did that, either) but if there's people who still want to hear the rest of the story, I'll give it a shot!
> 
> Original Author's Note:  
>  _Author's Note: It has been eons, but I finally return with another addition to "Of Awkward Summer Vacations and Beached Dolphins". In the time between the original three parts and this one-shot addition, I've finished the first series and nearly finished Heroes of Olympus. As of this writing, I'm more than halfway finished with House of Hades. Will I include some of the second series characters? Probably. They're too good to ignore._
> 
> _In this continuation, Percy gets to see just how much fun it is above the surface. Will it be tiring for him to be out of water? Yes. Will he have fun regardless? Absolutely. Also a short note. I've definitely included some foreshadowing in this one. I've got more planned for this series and I'm happy to give hints as to what that might be._
> 
> _I'd also like to say that I'm beyond thrilled at how much positive feedback I've had for this series! It warms my heart to see how much you guys enjoy it, and how much you wanted to see more! Thank you very much! I sincerely hope that this new chapter/continuation will live up to your expectations. I know the wait was a little long (and that this was started a while back and my writing style changed up a bit during that time), but I hope it was worth it! Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it!_


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